Black & White, or The care and keeping of Carlos De Vil
by Light's Lady
Summary: With Cruella De Vil as a mother Carlos is bound to have issues. This group of snippets follows Carlos as he deals with the repercussions of his early childhood. * Don't say a word: Ch.1 "The sound of a door shutting jolted Carlos awake. He opened his eyes and found himself confused by his surroundings."
1. It started with a bad dream

**Okay, so the overall feel of this movie just totally resonated with me. Fighting against what you are expected to be, and learning to be your own person. Even when within yourself you to believe what everyone else thinks about you. Just, wow. I feel like this is something that we all strive for. So, BAM, inspiration.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any recognizable character, event, or product. I do have a copy of the sound track and I am currently holding my sister's copy of the movie hostage. I hope you appreciate her noble sacrifice.**

* * *

The night of the coronation was brilliant. Dancing through the night. People being friendly and accepting. They had all seen them chose to be good. Everyone had seen them go against their parents. He went against his mother, who was trapped on the island. Things would be great now. They had to be. After all, Mal had stopped her mother. There was no way that anyone else could get off the island. No way.

Carlos was exhausted as he made his way back to the dorms. Sleep was the only thing on his mind as reached his room. It was quiet as Jay was still partying with the others, and Audrey. Yeah, Carlos had not seen that one coming. He was quick to change into something more comfortable to sleep in, and collapse onto the bed. He smiled as he started to fall asleep. Things in his life were finally starting to look up. He could not wait for tomorrow. No plotting to steal the wand, no plans, no expectations, and he had never been more thrilled of the prospects of a boring day.

* * *

It was the sound of something shuffling in the corner of the room that caught his attention first. Figuring it was Jay coming in Carlos simply turned over intending to go back to sleep. Then there was the sound of whimpering. That caught Carlos's attention, and slowly he opened his eyes. The room was dark and nothing seemed to be out of place, so Carlos started to doze back off.

There was another whimper that was followed by a loud whine. Carlos sat up quickly at the sound.

"Dude?"

The door was open, and the whining seemed to be coming from the hall. Carlos jumped up from his bed and made his way to the door.

"Dude?" he called again as he stuck his head out the door.

The whimpering sounded again from his left. He looked and saw a shadow heading down the hall. He was quick to follow after it. As he followed the whining grew louder and more frantic causing him to quicken his pace. He was practically running by the time he made it outside the main doors. He looked around frantically for any sign of where Dude might be. It was then that he heard a loud yelp from the woods. The sound caused his heart to race as he ran to the woods.

He stumbled around in the dark for a while before coming across a familiar shape covered with brown fur.

"Dude." He called out for the dog in relief.

Relief was short lived as he got no response from his normally active companion. If the loud yelp from before scared him, then the silence that surrounded him at the moment caused sheer terror to settle into his stomach.

He made his way to the unusually still dog. As soon as he got close a sob forced its way from his lips. The dog's eyes were open his direction, but it was clear that they were seeing nothing. He collapsed to his knees next to his friend. A shaking hand made its way to the dog's fur.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered as he pulled the dog into his lap and cuddled it close to him.

"Hello Carlos."

Carlos stiffened at the familiar voice. A hand with long claw like nails harshly took his chin and forced him to look at their face.

"Mother" he gasped his chest growing tight. Panic growing the longer he stared into her face.

She looked down at his lap a smile making its way across her face.

"The perfect size for ear muffs."

Before he could properly process her words she had snatched Dude from his lap. He tried to jump up to take the dog back from her, but found himself jerked back. Something was around his neck. His hands quickly examined what was keeping him from his dog. It was a collar. She put a collar on him.

It was becoming harder to breathe as he realized the position he was in. He looked around and his suspicions were confirmed. She had chained him to a tree. She was going to leave him out here all night. It was her favorite form of punishment. His mind was going a million miles a minute as he pulled at the collar. It would not budge. It was stuck. He was trapped.

"Stay Carlos, be a good boy while I take care of this mutt, and then we'll head home."

"No!" Carlos was in full blown panic now. He had to get Dude away from her, he had to get away from her. His breathing seemed to get faster and it was making it harder to concentrate. All he could process was must get away.

* * *

Jay walked into his room trying to be as quiet as possible. He figured that Carlos would be asleep by now. It had been a long day and he knew his little buddy would be exhausted. Needless to say he was shocked when he entered the room and herd quick gasping breaths coming from the bed opposite his.

"Not good." He whispered as he ran to Carlos.

"Carlos! Wake up." He called as he made it to the other boy's side. It was clear now that the other boy was struggling in his dream, to get away and to pull in a proper breath. He tried to shake the other boy awake, but it only seemed to make the other boy struggle harder.

He was no good at this. Carlos was prone to nightmares and the only one who could ever seem to snap him out of them was Evie. With that thought in mind he ran out of his room to find the girls. He figured they would be heading to their room by now everyone had decided to call it a night after all.

Evie and Mal were just getting back. Ben and Doug we're turning to leave as Jay rounded the corner. The girls seeing the panic on his face turned to him in concern.

"Carlos…nightmare…breathing wrong…" he gasped out and ran back toward the room. Nothing else was said as the two girls ran behind him. Ben and Doug were quickly following behind them.

Evie was in the boy's room first and instantly ran to Carlos's side. Jay stopped at the door to catch his breath. The younger boy had stopped thrashing around on the bed, but was practically hyperventilating now.

"Carlos, wake up now." Evie's voice was soft and her hands gentle. It was such a stark contrast from the dream that it was not long before the younger boy sat straight up in the bed.

However, despite being awake now he was still frantic and breathing harshly. Mal and Jay shared a worried glance. If they did not get him calm soon he was going to pass right back out.

"Hey, buddy you okay?" Ben asked

Carlos looked confused at first, but his confusion was replaced by such a sad look that Ben was startled by the tears that threatened to spill from his own eyes.

"You…lied…she…" Carlos tried to explain, but he could not explain past the wheezing excuse for breathing that was getting into his lungs.

"What did I lie about?" Ben asked. He was getting more worried by the second. A cold sweet was breaking out across the smaller boys face. Carlos swayed to the side. His eyes were not focusing properly. When the boy started to tilt off the bed, Ben was quick to steady him. Evie lay Carlos back against the bed once Ben passed Carlos back to her. He was trembling now, so Ben asked again.

"What did I lie about?"

Everyone was beginning to think that Carlos would faint before they got answer. But then the boy started to struggle to sit up again. Mal ran over to help Evie and Ben keep Carlos down.

"Dude!" Carlos started to cry now.

"Where is the Dude?" Doug asked Jay.

"Fairy Godmother, has him tonight." Jay said as he watched anxiously from the door, waiting for someone to tell them what he needed to do.

"We need the dog to calm him down." Doug said.

That was all Jay needed to hear to take off out of the room again. He made his way to Fairy Godmother's office, and threw the door open, startling the three adults in the room. Jay spotted the dog in the corner of the room, and quickly strode into the room and scooped up the dog before quickly leaving the room to return to the one who he shared with Carlos.

Carlos was no longer struggling in the bed, but he was staring at the wall. He was still breathing far too quickly for Jay's liking. Doug saw him in the door way and quickly took the dog from Jay.

Doug walked over to his dog loving friend. He offered a confused Dude to Carlos. But, the boy did not seem to see him. Carlos still appeared to be trapped in his thoughts from the aftermath of the dream. Doug sighed, and put the dog in Carlos' lap. Then he took the boys hand and helped him to stroke the dog's fur. Carlos appeared startled by the fur and looked down in confusion.

"But mom…"

"Just a dream, buddy." Ben said

Carlos nodded and his breathing started to calm. Dude was distraught by his human's behavior and stood so he could carefully lick away the salty tracks that tears left on his boy's cheek. Carlos smiled slightly and finally relaxed. Soon enough he had fallen into a more peaceful sleep with Dude cradled safely to him.

"What was that?" Ben asked everyone in the room quietly, so as not to wake the now sleeping boy.

"Nightmares." Evie said quietly. Mal nodded

"He has always had them, but this is defiantly the worst one I have ever seen." Jay said.

"Yeah, me to. Evie?" Mal looked at the other girl.

"I've seen bad ones, but nothing like this." Evie whispered as she leaned into Doug.

"I think he was having a panic attack." Doug explained.

"Not that surprising, considering." A voice said from the door way. They all looked up to see Fairy Godmother, The former King, and Queen standing in the door way.

"We should keep an eye on him." Fairy Godmother said.

"Poor dear." Bell said as she walked over to the sleeping boy. She had been worried about him since his reaction to going against their parents. The poor boy needed someone care about him. Though as she looked at the concerned looks on the face of the children in the room she was not as concerned as before. At least he had a strong support group. That would help a lot when it came to convincing the boy that he truly was safe, here away from the island.

"We will just have to make sure he feels safe, if not these attack could happen more often." Bell explained as she pushed his bangs from his face.

There were nods of agreement throughout the room. Bell stood from the bed and ushered everyone but Jay out of the room. As they were left alone Jay silently wondered how his little buddy had gotten this bad. Had his mother been that bad? Where there things happening that Jay was not aware of? Jay had always tried to look out for the youngest in their group. Even on the island it had been clear that he needed someone who cared. Carlos did very well when he was with Jay and the girls, but when he was on he was shy and awkward. He would just have to keep a better eye on the younger boy.

"Don't worry Carlos I'll look out for you. You, know the girls and I got your back. I think we got people here looking out for us to. I promise things will get better." With that Jay turned out the light and headed to bed.

* * *

Carlos smiled in his sleep. For some reason he did not feel as afraid anymore.

* * *

 _ **AN:**_ **This is an oneshot, but if you would like I will write more Carlos stories. I am willing to take requests, so please tell me what it is you would like to read and if I can do it I will. Just, please, no slash request. I am no good at that sort of thing. That being said I'll also add more stories as I get ideas. Carlos is such a little pumpkin nugget! So much angst potential**

 **Let me know how you felt about the story. Reviews make me happy and motivate me to write**

 **Light's Lady**


	2. It started with a bad dream: Part 2

**Hello! I'm back. I decided to make my one shot a two shot, actually it'll probably be a story arc. The day after panic attacks are the worst. So I thought, perfect opportunity for some angst.**

 **Thank for all of the favs and follows! Yay, people read it and liked it enough to be alerted if I add more. Every writers dream.**

 **The reviews were also, very, appreciated! I thought hey, why not reply? So here we go!**

 _ **LoveShipper: I totally agree, they are most definitely the worst.**_

 _ **lilsis0626: I like Carlos to, he was my favorite in the movie! Working on more stuff as you read this.**_

 _ **biankies: Thanks! Working on more stuff.**_

 _ **Izi Wilson: I hope that means you enjoyed it. Well, I'm taking it as you liked it.**_

 _ **guest: Ah, the mysterious guest review, I like getting these. Well, I am working more stories, and yes expect Carlos angst!**_

 _ **Lovinglolipop0402: I am happy you enjoyed, and look I'm back with another story, well part two of this arc!**_

 **Hope I hear from you guys again!**

 **Disclaimer: Alas still not mine, but I have added the book Isle of the Lost to the list of things I have.**

* * *

Waking up that next day was chore. Carlos was exhausted even after sleeping….he turned to look at his clock…twelve hours! How is that even possible? He groaned and threw an arm over his eyes. At least it was Saturday, so no class. With a sigh Carlos curled back up, how could he have no energy after sleeping so long? It had always surprised him how much of a toll panic attacks had on the body. Yeah, he was very aware that a panic attack was what had happened. He, was smart after all. It only took having a few for him to look into what was happening. It was always a nightmare that next day. He had to hide how terrible he felt on the island. People already picked on him, and a moment of weakness in front of villains was like dangling a piece of string in front of a cat, bullying was not something he wanted to become worse.

It had gotten better after Mal had forced them to become, friends? No, it was more like a gang on the island, but either way they looked out for their own. This would be the type of day where Evie would stay close to his side, Jay would conveniently steal something that would be perfect for one of Carlos' experiments, and Mal…well her glare dared people to so much as look at Carlos the wrong way. They would not do much on days like this. Petty left, maybe, but usually that consisted of Evie and Carlos waiting for Jay to bring back food, Mal standing guard intimidating anyone who got to close and then they would sneak into someplace no one was supposed to be and Carlos would most likely fall asleep. Moving around was never something he wanted to do after a panic attack. It was the routine, but things were different now. The uncertainty of what he would do had Carlos considering just lying in bed all day. Like that would be allowed to happen.

"Hey buddy, you awake?" Jay asked as he came back into the room, from somewhere.

"Yeah."

"Going to get up?" See no lying around today.

Carlos continued to lie there. He cataloged how he felt. If Jay was asking, instead of pulling him out of bed, last night must have been bad. The dream he remembered, always did, but those moments after being pulled out of the dream were always fuzzy. As expected there was a soreness in his muscles. He must have been tensing up either during or after the dream. Add all the dancing yesterday, and his legs were probably going to feel like jelly when he stood. He moved to roll over, but stopped as soon as the pain shot through his neck and shoulders. He groaned, must have been hunched over at some point. Partying then panic attack, not a fun combination.

"Rephrasing, can you get up?"

"Probably, but don't plan on trying." Carlos answered hoping Jay would take mercy on him. No such luck, he heard a snort of amusement from Jay at his comment, and Jay making his way across the room.

* * *

Jay and the others had talked this morning. How would they go about the day? They had a routine for this situation back home. Get Carlos out of his house and mind off what ever had bothered him, while still trying to keep the day as normal as possible. Show no weakness that can be used against you, the unwritten rule of the island. But, they handled him with as much care as they could on these days. They could show him more care now, but they did not want to baby him, he would not appreciate it, and yeah, awkward. They were still new to this whole good thing. One thing that they had agreed on was that they had to get him out of the room, and they would figure out how to make things feel normal for him as they went, meaning…..

"Oh! I found you something when we went into town today." Jay said as he helped the smaller boy sit up. The look on Carlos' face made him laugh.

"I didn't steal it!" He offered as he reached into his pocket.

Jay pulled out a set of small tools. Perfect for working on electronics. He had heard Carlos complain about the lack of proper tools for his experiments. He handed it to Carlos and felt accomplished by the smile that appeared on his face. Carlos looked up at with an eyebrow raised.

"If you didn't steal it how did you get it?" Carlos asked as he carefully moved to swing his legs off the bed.

"Ah, well apparently we have some sort of funds and accounts to live off of. Something about actually doing things off the campus." Jay shrugged

"Makes sense, I guess. Thanks." Jay held out a hand and pulled Carlos up onto unsteady legs. After he was sure the other boy would not fall he stepped back to allow Carlos to go to the bathroom. As Carlos reached the door Jay remembered something.

"Dress comfy, Evie said we were having a picnic today." Jay laughed.

"What?"

"She was fitting Dude for a new outfit when I left the girls room." Jay had noticed Carlos looking around and figured the dog not being here had been noticed.

"Oh, that's cool."

"I swear that will be one pampered mutt now that the two of you are here." Jay leaned back on to his bed as he shook his head.

"As he should be." Jay did not miss the shudder that went through Carlos. What had his mother done to the dog in his dream? Never mind it was Cruella he was thinking about and could guess what had happened.

"Well, hurry up the girls are waiting." Carlos nodded and made his way to the bathroom. Jay sighed as he closed his eyes, he had fulfilled part of his job in the help Carlos recover plan, next up was Evie, and then Mal.

* * *

 _ **An: Well not as much angst is this chapter, but just wait there is more to come. I have plans for this arc. This is part 2 of It started with a bad dream. I know there will be at the very least two more chapters in this arc, but no more than four. Not as long as the first chapter, but I guarantee that I will post no less than 1,000 words of story per chapter.**_

 _ **See you next time!**_

 _ **~ Light's Lady**_


	3. It started with a bad dream: part 3

**AN: This is Part 3 of the It started with a bad dream Arc. Sorry it took me so long! But I could not decide where I wanted to end this chapter. That and every time I was in a writing mood something would come up.**

 **~youth events, bon fires, people wanting to spend time with you, being sick, and birthday parties, where you become insanely jealous of a four year olds birthday present. She got the Carlos doll.**

 **Well, I'm not very mobile at the moment, I have done something to my Achilles tendon and walking around is not awesome, it is kind of painful actually, so I plan on using this time to write. So I hope to have another update up relatively soon.**

 **Thank you to everyone who has followed and faved, if people are reading it keeps me motivated to write.**

 **Then the reviews, well they make me happy and extra motivated! So, let's respond!**

 **Guest: I am happy you love the story. I'm so sorry I've kept you waiting, but I'll try to get them out sooner.**

 **thefan: Look here is an update. I'm sorry I made you wait.**

 **Mrs. Marple Poriot: I have updated as per your request.**

 **Bella: Aw thank you. I try. If you like Angst just wait for the next part of this arc!**

 **bluerenity17: Thank you! I plan on it. It might take me a little while but updates will happen. I am happy I made you happy. Hopefully you will be happy with this one as well.**

 **LoveShipper: isn't that the truth! Maybe it was, but maybe it was not. You'll have to wait and see!**

 **biankies: I am happy you enjoyed the chapter. As for that ending, well it is….a surprise you'll have to wait and see. I'm glad I'm portraying them correctly. It all gets better….eventually. But where would the fun be if we did not put these characters through their paces. (Insert evil laughter). 101 stories, hmm…. I might just take that challenge.**

 **Okay enough rambling. Story Time!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Descendants.**

* * *

Carlos groaned as he leaned against the door. Today was going to be interesting. He felt terrible… and gross… he needed a shower. With a sigh Carlos turned to switch on the water.

"Man really?" he heard Jay say from the room.

"Some of us don't enjoy being covered in our own filth." Carlos called out as he undressed

"Hey now!" Jay laughed "I am very clean. Girls don't go for overwhelming man stink."

"Whatever it takes to make you feel better." Carlos was laughing as he sunk into the tub.

Warm water was definitely the best part about living here. It helped with the aches that had settled into his body. Hopefully he would not be as stiff. Yeah it sucked to try to climb after the others when his body did not want to cooperate. After the first panic attack he had, once he started hanging out with Jay and the girls, he had tried to follow Jay up to Ursula's roof. Yeah that had been a disaster. His legs gave out close to the top and if Jay had slower reflexes he would have been splat on the ground. As it was he could no longer hide the trembling in his body, concentrating on not having another panic attack threw hiding his weakness from them out the window. They didn't seem to care though. Evie simply smiled and patted the seat next to her. It was then that Carlos realized that Jay had gotten Carlos and himself back on the ground.

Jay playfully pushed Carlos and caused him to stumble into Mal's side, and then made his way back up Ursula's roof. Mal sighed in annoyance and shoved him over to Evie. Even Carlos knew that there was no malice in the action.

Carlos smiled as he remembered that day. Banging on his door quickly brought him out of his reminiscing.

"Bro! Hurry up." Jay called out then paused. "A bath really?"

"You're just jealous I thought of it first, and I'm getting out."

Carlos felt immensely better after his bath, and a little more optimistic about the day ahead.

* * *

Evie was finishing up with Dude when Jay left to go get Carlos. Mal and Ben left not long after he had to find a secluded place to chill for the day. Doug was currently on his laptop studying something rather intently. When she had asked what he was doing he just smiled and told her it was a personal project.

With a sigh she went through the items she had gotten when they went to town. She had picked up material for a new outfits, matching ones for Dude and Carlos. When Carlos was doing better she would fit it to him. Then there was a picnic basket, Jay would get the food after he brought Carlos here, while they waited for Ben and Mal to come back and lead them to the picnic area they picked out. Ben had picked out some things for games. Of course a picnic blanket. Evie walked over the bag Mal had brought into the room.

Evie frowned she could not remember what Mal had bought. She noticed the bag as Mal and Ben left and when she had asked about it Mal had shrugged and said that she thought it would come in handy. Evie sighed and unpacked the bag, after all Mal meant for it to be brought along with them. What she found there made her smile.

First she pulled out a small red pillow. She sat it aside and pulled a throw blanket. It was black and white. With the pillow all three of Carlos's signature colors were covered.

"A blanket and pillow?" Evie looked up at Doug who was watching her from the table.

"Carlos has a tendency to sleep a lot on days after nightmares." Evie answered with a smile and a shrug.

"Oh, good thinking Mal." Doug smiled and went back to his computer.

"Good thinking indeed." Evie could not believe that she had over looked the fact that Carlos would be tiered today. Leave it to Mal to pick up her slack. Evie smiled, Mal cared a lot more than she was comfortable with sharing. They would get her there, but this was a start.

Dude was suddenly alert. His tale was wagging happily as he made his way to door. His excitement made Evie smile. Only one person made the dog that happy. Both she and Doug turned to the door expectantly and moments later Carlos and Jay were coming in

"Oh, buddy look at you!" Carlos knelt down and scooped up Dude. Evie could not help the pride that came along with someone approving of her work.

"Evie this is great." Carlos quickly made his way to her and threw his free arm around her in an enthusiastic hug.

"Glad you approve, tomorrow we'll work on yours."

"Hear that buddy another matching outfit." Carlos made his way over to Mal's empty bed and cuddled the dog close.

Evie could not help her smile. He seemed more relaxed then she had ever seen him after a nightmare. There were still traces of exhaustion in his posture, but he was nowhere near as edgy as he used to be.

"So, anything else we need to do?" Jay asked from the door way.

"Just need to get the food together." Doug said from across the table he stood up and closed his lap top and moved toward the picnic basket.

"It's okay, bro I got it." Jay took the basket from Doug and exited the room.

"Carlos you okay?" Evie asked as she saw him wince and roll his shoulders.

"Fine, but still a little sore."

Evie looked down at he her bed and all the stuff she still had to get together and over to Carlos who had gone back to playing with Dude.

"I can finish that." Doug offered. Evie pressed a quick peck to his cheek in thanks then made her way over to Carlos.

"Scoot up." She ordered as she sat behind him.

He looked over his shoulder in confusion, but complied none the less. Evie quickly brought her hands to his shoulders and started to massage. She felt him tense as she began to work out the knots in his shoulder, but soon he started to relax.

"I take it that you are enjoying that massage." Doug stated as he joined them. He laughed at laughed at the mumbled reply that he got.

"All done. Feeling better?" Evie asked a few moments later. She frowned when she got no reply.

"Carlos?"

"I think he fell asleep." Doug was the one to answer her.

He stepped forward and gently took Carlos's shoulders and motioned for Evie to move off the bed. Once she was out of the way He lowered Carlos to the bed.

"We should let him sleep?" Evie looked over at Doug.

"Yeah, you have more fun when you're not exhausted." Doug answered easily. As he turned the table he had been working at earlier and packed up his computer.

"Yeah. I hope we have a lot of fun today." Evie sat down next to Carlos and picked up Dude from where he had snuggled up next to her sleeping friend.

"Lots and lots of fun." Evie cuddled the dog close, and laughed as he licked her face in agreement.

* * *

 _ **AN: Part three done! The next part of this Arc should be its last chapter. I'm not sure what will be posted next. I'm thinking it will be the last part of this arc, but it might be the next part of When it rains it storms. I'm going to try and finish these two arcs before starting a new one.**_

 _ **Anyway, I will update as soon as I can!**_

 _ **~ Light's Lady**_


	4. It started with a bad dream: End

**AN: Hey I'm back. Sorry it took so long. Seriously, I can't believe it took me so long. I started working on this as soon as I posted the last chapter.**

 **Well, I kind of got distracted by a story idea. It should be ready soon. It will be about two OCs, but will feature Carlos as a big brother figure. Kind of excited about it, so be on the lookout for it.**

 **All the views, follows and favs are wonderful!**

 **You are all awesome!**

 **The reviews make me so happy, and I love responding, but I am behind I want to post this tonight! But rest assured I appreciate them, especially those of you who review regularly. You know who you are! I'll start responding again with the next chapter when I've not put a time crunch on myself.**

 **Disclaimer: Not mine!**

* * *

Mal and Ben made their way across the court yard of the school. Ben had some ideas of places that would be good for their small group to spend some time together and manage to avoid any other students who might be wandering around the campus today. But, Mal had to approve. It was her job to pick the best place. A place where they would not run into their parents, especially his mother. That one should be easy enough to avoid, at least that was what she and the others hoped. Two, it had to have resemblances to his mother's house, Carlos had stopped referring to it as home a long time ago, and again that should not be something that was particularly difficult to achieve here. There was absolutely nothing that was even close to looking like home…..no it was the island, not home, here. Finally avoid fur, it always seemed that her fur was what got him trouble. Again that was not really something to worry about, fur was not a fashion thing here.

All in all, Mal felt obsolete. Anyone from here, who did not know Carlos at all, could find a place where Carlos would be fine.

"What about this place." Ben asked.

Mal looked around they were back behind the school. There were some trees that were perfect for shade. Carlos, could nap comfortably under those trees. There was a good sized area that she and the others could play and goof off without disturbing him. He would have plenty of room to play with Dude. They could set up the picnic near the trees and not worry about stepping in the food as they ran around.

"It's great." Mal stated.

"What's wrong?" Ben asked as they started back toward the dorms to get the others. Mal sighed the stopped to look around.

"I feel like I no longer have a purpose when it comes to helping Carlos." Ben looked confused.

"I was kind of the one who made sure no one bothered him." She looked around and frowned. "There is no one I need to intimidate or threaten here. I just don't know where I fit now. Jay brings gifts, Evie brings comfort, and I stand there, with a scowl on my face. Not very effective here."

Ben just watched as Mal began to put her thoughts together. She was pacing when she suddenly turned to him.

"What good am I to him, Ben? What am I supposed to do?"

Ben put his hands on her shoulders and rubbed them lightly in an attempt to calm her down.

"You're helping Mal. You just picked this place…."

"It's a nice spot Ben! Anyone would choose it and know it's good. They would not even have to know Carlos!"

"Really?"

"Yes Ben." She scoffed and turned away from him.

"Then enlighten me. What was wrong with the two places I showed you before?" He folded his as he waited for her response.

"The first place was too bright, not enough trees. Carlos would not be able to rest comfortably." She answered him quickly.

"The second place had plenty of trees." He pointed back toward the wooded area they had just came from.

"Too many trees. We would not be able to play around. I saw that you guys got some stuff for games. Carlos will also want to be able to run around with Dude."

He raised an eyebrow in triumph.

"Still you don't know Carlos as well as I do and you could have picked this place." Mal gestured to the area around them.

"No I would have picked the first place I showed you. More room to run around, but I would not have considered that Carlos would have liked somewhere to rest. That is something you already had in mind."

Mal looked confused and Ben just smiled in response to look.

"I saw you got a blanket and pillow. Even then I did not think too much about why you got it. I understood just now, when you explained. You know Carlos better than I do and as much as I want to help I would have no idea where to start without you, Evie and Jay, the three people who know him best." Ben explained with a gentle kind of conviction that made her smile.

"Maybe you're right." Mal reluctantly agreed.

Hand in hand the two made their way back to the dorms to get the others.

About halfway back they meet up with Jay who was carrying an enormous amount of food.

"Think you got enough?" Mal asked with a smirk.

"Don't blame me. Blame them." Jay gestured to his left where Lonnie and Jane were coming around the corner. They also had large baskets of food with them.

"They found me raiding the kitchen. Told them we were going on a picnic and they started throwing things in the basket." Jay groaned. "Every time I thought they were done they would add something else to the basket."

"You could have told them you had enough." Ben laughed. Jay looked suddenly sheepish.

"I tried. But they would say something like…"

"Jay I bet Carlos would love white chocolate fudge so I added it to my basket." Lonnie said excitedly.

"That!" Jay exclaimed and gestured to Lonnie. Mal laughed at the pained look on Jays face.

"What?" Lonnie asked. All Mal could do was shake her head and smile. On days like today anything that Carlos might like suddenly became too tempting to pass up.

"You joining us?" Mal asked

"If you don't mind…I mean we don't want to intrude…but it could be fun…only if…."

"Easy Jane. It is totally fine if you want to join us." Mal knew Carlos liked the two girls. Maybe one more than the other, but that was something she could speculate on later. If they made Carlos happy then she was cool with them being there, and there was the matter of all the food, yeah two more mouths were probably going to be a good idea.

"Great! You pick a spot?" Lonnie was clearly excited.

"Yeah the place just past the Tourney field." Ben answered.

"Perfect! Jay, Jane follow me we can go ahead and set up the food." Lonnie took off toward the place they picked. With Jane and Jay following quickly behind her.

Mal and Ben walked into the room as Evie finished putting the last of their things in a bags. Mal smiled looked over to her bed and found Carlos still asleep.

"Jay is waiting for us, with Lonnie and Jane." Ben announced as he sat on the edge of Mal's bed.

"Lonnie and Jane are joining us?" Evie looked up in confusion.

"Apparently they caught Jay raiding the pantry." Mal explained as she sat down next to Ben.

"Okay. Well I guess we should get going then." Evie started to pick up bags and hand them to Doug.

Mal reached and gently shook Carlos's shoulder. He simply groaned and rolled away from her. Mal smiled, usually touching Carlos when he was asleep would result in him jolting awake. Mal chose to take it as a sign that he felt safe.

"Carlos, get up its time to go." Mal shook him gently.

"Five more minutes." Carlos groaned.

Mal looked up when Ben chuckled. He walked across the room and motioned for Mal to stand. When she did Ben handed her the things he had been holding. She looked confused for a moment, but stood aside none the less when he approached the bed. In one swift motion he had Carlos off the bed and on his back.

* * *

"Jay!" Carlos called out when he felt himself lifted off the bed, he was already imagining himself dumped on the floor. Instead he found himself flung across someone's back. He automatically flung his arms around said person's neck before they could decide to drop him. He heard the person who had scared him start to laugh. He opened his eyes which he just then realized were clenched shut and looked at the person who startled him.

"Ben! Why did you do that?!" He moved a hand to his chest to calm its frantic beat.

"You didn't want to get up and we're ready to go, so I figured I would give you a lift."

"A lift?"

He heard Ben laugh a moment before he took off in a run down the hall.

"Ben!" Carlos quickly returned his arms to Ben's neck, because Ben's forward momentum had threatened to fling him backwards and off Ben's back.

Carlos looked back when he heard laughter behind him. Mal, Evie and Doug were following quickly behind them. He heard a bark and looked down. Dude was happily running next to Ben, tail wagging happily. The sight caused Carlos to smile and soon he was laughing along with his friends.

Soon enough they were at the area Mal had chosen, and Carlos was out of breath from laughing. He was still chuckling when Ben had sat him down. When he looked up he meet the amused faces of Jay, Lonnie and Jane.

"Having fun?" Jay asked him a bemused smirk making its way on to face.

Carlos just shrugged happily and made his way over to the baskets to inspect the food. The next thing he knew Lonnie and Jane were at his side pulling food out and offering it to him to try. Everything was so good, but the dessert was the best. White chocolate was amazing. He knew he liked chocolate, but he had no idea there was more than one type.

While he was discovering the joys of dark chocolate everyone else was getting the games ready. Soon enough Jay and Ben were tossing a Frisbee back and forth. As he was savoring that last bite the Frisbee suddenly skimmed the top of his head and flew toward the tourney field.

"I got it!" Carlos jumped up and headed after it.

He found it relatively quick, but as he was walking back toward his friends he heard someone talking from around the corner. He was going to leave, but he heard his name mentioned and stopped. He backed up to the bleachers and found Fairy Godmother talking to the coach with the former King and Queen at her side.

"I just wanted you to be aware of the situation, you spend the most time with him next to myself and his science teacher." Fairy Godmother was saying and Carlos listened more closely.

"Wow, poor kid. I mean he is kind of anxious on the field, but I never thought panic attacks would be an issue." The coach was saying. So the king, queen and Fairy Godmother were aware of what happened. He swallowed discomfort and that thought.

"I don't think they will be an issue on the field, it would seem that his mother is the ultimate trigger I doubt that will be a problem on the field, but…." The queen trailed off and Carlos could feel his anxiety spiking she sounded worried why did she sound worried?

"But..." Coach prompted.

" _Yeah, but what"_ Carlos thought.

"The situation with the hole that was formed in the barrier has yet to solved and well…" The king was the one who picked up for her.

Someone could get off the island. His mother could get off the island. He could feel his heart speed up as the news could sunk in. She could get off the island. She could get Dude just like his dream. He gasped as the images once again started to play in front of his eyes. The more he thought the harder it was to breath.

"….Carlos!" He had been backing away, but the voice startled him out of his thoughts and sent him running.

He had no idea where he was going, but he had to get away. He ran until he plowed into someone. That someone grabbed him and held him in place.

* * *

"It is taking him an awful long time to get that Frisbee." Doug heard Evie say from next to him.

Doug looked up from where he was reading toward the tourney field. Ben and Jay looked up as well. They had been discussing tourney plays. Jay started forward to go look for him.

"I'll go." Doug offered and got up to go after the missing boy, Jay shrugged and went back to his discussion.

"Wait Carlos!"

Doug had just stepped out of the clearing when he heard the queen call out. He glanced back and the others at saw that they had heard the queen as well and were heading toward the field as well. He turned back toward the field just as Carlos came barreling into him. The boy was struggling against him, trying his best to get away, but Doug held firm as he assessed the situation. He was breathing quickly and even through his struggles Doug could tell that he was trembling.

"Carlos?!" Two voices called out. He knew Evie's instantly even though she was behind him and he could see the queen coming toward him. Doug took a breath and went into action.

"If everyone could take a few steps back that would be great." Everyone stopped and did as he requested.

"Carlos, Can you hear me?"

"Doug?" He was gasping, but he was at least a little aware.

"Good. Okay, do you know where you are, that you're not on the island."

"Yeah, not on the island. Can't be on the island. Doug lives in Auradon not on the island." Doug smiled, Carlos was ever a creature of logic.

"Not on the island, but she can get off the island." Carlos groaned and took a step away and this time Doug let him.

"Maleficent! She could get off the island." Carlos doubled over and hugged himself like he was trying to hold himself together.

"We'll make sure that does not happen." Doug looked up at the former king.

Carlos seemed to be struggling with something and before Doug could ask what was wrong Carlos reached out with a trembling and something close to fear was in his eyes.

"I can't breathe. Why can't I breathe?"

"You can Carlos." Doug assured.

"No…" Carlos started hyperventilate and tightly shut his eyes and grabbed at his chest.

"Hey, look at me." Carlos opened his eyes at Doug's request.

"You can breathe, just follow my lead."

After a few minutes Doug had Carlos breathing at a normal pace. The boy slumped in exhaustion then meekly meet Doug's eyes.

"Thanks. It's much easier to get through that with someone to help."

"No problem." Doug assured and helped the boy to his feet.

* * *

Carlos turned to face the group that was watching him. This was so embarrassing they probably thought he was such a baby.

"Sorry…." Carlos suddenly found himself in someone's arms and he found much to his surprise that it was Mal who was holding onto him.

"Don't you dare apologize for this Carlos."

"And don't worry about anything buddy I…we got you're back." Carlos looked up at Jay who was at his side.

"Always." Evie assured.

Carlos looked around at the people who were surrounding him, old and new friends, and for the first time in such a long time he believed that everything was going to be okay. Yeah, his mom might figure out how to get off the island, but he had a feeling that if she did manage to do it he would not have to face her on his own. He could not help but smile because it seems that Carlos De Vil was no longer going to face the world on his own.

* * *

 _ **AN: And this arc is done! Yay! Longest chapter so far and it is posted before the new year!**_

 _ **I hope you all enjoyed it and I'll see you all in 2016!**_

 _ **Happy New Year Everyone! I hope it is good one for everyone.**_

 _ **~ Light's Lady**_


	5. When it rains it storms

**AN: Hi I'm back. Sorry it took so long, but I have had so many ideas that I've been working on. I've been working on bits and pieces and this was the one I finished first.**

 **The next post should be part three of the It started with a bad dream arc. I think it is the next one I am closest to finishing. After having to start over. Make sure you save your work, nothing is worse than having to start over. I almost cried.**

 **Anyway, as soon As I finish chapter/story I will post it. Unless it's like one or so in the morning (Like it is right now by the way.) then I'll post later in the day (Hello, it is later in the day now!)**

 **I just wanted to assure you all that I am working on stories, but it might take me little while to get them done until I get all my ideas down. I would hate to forget something. Once I get the basics of these stories down I should update more regularly, just bear with me for the time being.**

 **Shout out to all of you who have followed and faved. You guys keep me motivated.**

 **Reviews also make me happy, so the reviews since last post I would like to respond to.**

 **Chapter One**

 **HermioneMaggieJareau: Yeah me to. Just the way he acts towards his mother in not just the movie, but the book as well, just makes me sad for him, especially when you compare it to the reactions of the other 3.**

 **Chapter two**

 **HermioneMaggieJareau: I'm glad you're looking forward to the next chapter. It should be up realitivly soon. I'm shooting for Sunday or Monday, but it might be sooner.**

 **The Bloodless: More is on the way. Expect part 3 soon!**

 **LoveShipper: Lose little things can mean more than you realize.**

 **Lovinglolipop0402: Thank you. I'm glad you thought so. I will, hope I don't disappoint.**

 **biankies: You are too kind. It is clear that those for are close, and I hope I portray the relationship correctly. Yeah their life has kind of sucked, and poor Carlos. I'll try to make things better for him, well you know after I torture with his past a little, but all good endings eventually.**

 **EmotionalDreamer101: Poor Carlos indeed, just wait and see what I have planned for him. I am happy you are enjoying the story!**

 **Lilsis0626: Happy you enjoyed and trust me I'm still writing, sorry if it takes me a little while I just have way to many ideas.**

 **On with the story**

 ***!Chapter order has been fixed. All the story arcs are now together! Hopefully this will make the story easier to read, lol!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Descendants.**

* * *

As villains it was assumed that they were conditioned to prefer the gloomy weather. Carlos had never understood many of the island dwellers love of the gray overcast sky. It only made him cold and miserable, but miserable was the island's version of happy, right? If that was true then he was most definitely the happiest person on the island. He hated every second of the weather.

His main reason for loathing the weather, his ability to unavoidably end up sick after spending more than five minutes in the weather. Yes, he was aware that the weather did not make him sick, but the cold made him ache, and kept him up at night. If you don't sleep it lowers the immune system. Low immune system makes you more likely to get sick. Not like he needed to add anything to help him get sick. His immune system was pathetic. It was either genetics, which he doubted as his mom never got sick, of course that could just be because even the germs were too afraid to touch her precious fur, or lack of proper nutrition. Lack of nutrition was what he was banking on. Either way when he got sick he really got sick. He had lucked out and had not gotten sick sense becoming friends with Mal and the others. He figured it was easier to keep friends without throwing up on them. Then coming to Auradon, well he figured his troubles were over. Yeah, not likely.

Two weeks ago Lonnie had a cold, no biggie right? Wrong! He thought that maybe he had avoided it. But three days ago he started to feel stuffy. Then yesterday his head had decided to feel like it was being split in two. And, today he woke to not only a headache, and stuffy nose, but also a tightness in his chest that would no doubt lead to coughing later today, and a severe thunderstorm. Fan freakin tastic. He hated rain, and he was definitely getting sick.

As soon as it became clear that he was sick he fell back into the routine he had on the island. Act as if nothing was wrong and survive the day. He slowly got out of bed and looked over to see if the other occupant of the room was awake yet. And thankfully Jay was still out like a light. Carlos quickly made his way to the bathroom and began the long process of making himself not look like some sort of undead creature. As well as steaming up the bathroom in hopes of easing his congestion.

Once Carlos was sure that he could pass as human he exited the bathroom and made his way to Jay's bed. This was the part of the day he hated the most, and that was when he was not sick. He had to wake Jay up. On a normal day, when he was completely on his game, he stood a chance of getting clipped by a swinging fist. Today, oh man, a punch landing was guaranteed. With a quiet groan, he reached out to shake Jay's shoulder, and prepared to dodge.

"Jay, wake **UP."** Not quick enough. Oh man. The chest. Why did he have to land the punch in the chest?

Carlos was doubled over on the floor coughing and trying to catch his breath. Why did Jay have to be so flipping strong? He collapsed a lung, this time didn't he?

"Carlos, oh man I'm sorry." Jay was next to him now, and Carlos could hear the concern in his voice.

"Come on buddy. You got the air knocked out of you, you know the drill. Big deep breaths." Yeah Carlos knew the routine, but it was easier said than done he could not event set up at the moment. As if Jay had read his mind he suddenly had him sitting up and proceeded to uncurl his arms from around his chest.

"Breath." Carlos looked up at him incredulously. What did he think he was trying to do, play Tourney?

After a few moments Carlos got his breathing mostly under control, but he could hear the wheezing in his chest now, instead of just feeling it. Great, he had to get away from Jay before he noticed.

"Good shot man." He gasped out before standing up carefully.

"Sorry." Jay apologized again.

Carlos watched as Jay studied his appearance. He tried to wave off the event, but only managed a shaky fling of his wrist. He quickly made his way over to the door before Jay could say anything more.

"I'll see you later." Carlos moved as fast as he could out into the hall. He would spend the rest of the day trying to stay away from Jay. Probably Mal and Evie to, he was exhausted already. He winced at the thought as thunder crashed across the sky. Today was going to suck.

* * *

At the end of the school day Carlos was barely managing to hold it together. He spent the day avoiding his friends, which somehow ended up causing him to end up next to Chad most the day. Despite the wheezing in his chest getting louder throughout the day Chad did not pounce on him to beat the slop out of or make comments or even look at him. Well he did once, but that was probably because of that one rattling cough Carlos let slip. A quick glance in Carlos's direction then he turned back to his own school work. Ok, so far being sick here was very different from being sick on the island.

As Carlos headed back to his room he was stopped by a frantic Jane.

"Carlos, I need you to walk Dude." Before he could turn her down she had taken off down the hallway. With a sigh he turned to the window at least there was a break in the rain.

"Come on Dude. Let's try to get back in before the rain starts back up. The dog was wagging his tail happily and running around his legs. Poor guy must have been cooped up all day. With an exhausted sigh he headed outside with the dog. Who took off running the moment the door was opened.

"Dude." He called Dude back to him, but clearly he was too happy to be outside to pay any attention to Carlos. When the dog took off toward the Tourney field Carlos jogged after him. The moment he reached the field he regretted jogging. His chest was burning from the deep rattling coughs that were forcing themselves from his mouth. By the time he got them under control he was dizzy from lack of oxygen. He tried to call Dude back to him, but it resulted in more coughing. With a resigned sigh he made his way into the woods to get the dog.

Carlos looked up at the sparse amount of sky he could see through the trees. The clouds were dark and ominous. He flinched as thunder rumbled in the distance. Lighting flashed across the sky and the bottom fell out of the clouds. Rain soaked Carlos in a matter of seconds.

"Its official the universe hates me." He groaned and continued looking for Dude.

The longer he walked the colder he got. Trembling soon set in. Carlos was so dizzy he had to sit for a moment. He looked around momentarily confused. What was he doing in the rain? Did mom…..no he was not sore…was that a dog? Carlos shook his head and groaned.

"Dude?" That's right. He was not on the island anymore. He must be really sick. Probably running a fever. Carlos braced himself to stand, but his head spun so horribly with the small movement that suddenly lost anything that had been in his stomach.

Carlos managed to get himself up, how, he was not exactly sure. He really needed to get back, but the thoughts of leaving dude out in this weather had him trucking on in the direction he thought he had heard the dog come from earlier.

After about ten minutes of walking he realized he had no idea where he was. Great just great could this day possibly get any worse?

Dude started to bark from somewhere behind Carlos, so he turned around and headed toward the sound. A few steps later he found a tree root…and the bottom of a small hill, the hard way. He groaned and tried to stand up.

"Yep this day just got worse."

His ankle was sprained if not broken, wonderful absolutely wonderful. As he sat pondering what he was supposed to do next his eyes started to drift close. Man he was tired. Maybe he could rest his eyes for just a moment.

As he drifted of he heard something crashing through the woods. It was way too big to be Dude. He knew he should probably be concerned, but as unconsciousness claimed him he could not really bring himself to care.

* * *

 _ **AN: Well part one of this arc is done pretty sure it only going to be a two shot, but we'll see how it goes.**_

 _ **Hope you all enjoyed!**_

 _ **See you next post.**_

 _ **~ Light's Lady**_


	6. When it rains it storms:End

**AN: Hey everyone I'm back with the last part of when it rains it storms. Sorry it took so long, but I had to rewrite it twice. I cannot put enough emphasis on saving your work. But, to make up for it taking so long I tried to make this chapter… well longer. And it is the longest chapter yet at 3335 words.**

 **So I would like to thank everyone who has read, followed, faved, and reviewed this story.**

 **A special shout out to cantbestuffed for being the 101** **st** **follower. If you like Carlos you'll understand why that is special.**

 **Time to respond to reviews. I appreciate all the reviews but to save time so we can get to the story I'm only going to respond to the ones from the first of the year.**

 **Book Girl Fan: Thank you! You are too sweet, and I plan on writing more**

 **Guest: Poor Carlos indeed, just wait until you see what else I have planned for him**

 **Guest : I am happy you loved it.**

 **thefan: I have updated, I am so sorry it took so long. I like these types of stories to!**

 **Nameless Namer: I apologize greatly for allowing life to get in the way, but as you said the world is cruel and I have allowed it to distract me.**

 **P.S. Don't worry, I am not a stick in the mud.**

 **lilsis0626: Yes I know what you want and I will work on it.**

 **lilsis0626: Thank you! But it is so shiny.**

 **LoveShipper: Happy you enjoyed it!**

 **camacazi1: Thank you! I tried to get a little something for everyone. I am so sorry I took so long, but I humbly offer an update**

 **CarVie Shipper: Carlos is also my favorite as well. Happy you enjoyed the story, I tried to change it up some. Hope you will enjoy the new chapter**

 **biankies: I hoped you would enjoy the chapter. Sorry it took so long to get the new one out.**

 **blurenity17: Yes! I just finished it. I do hope you enjoy it.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the new chapter!**

 ***!Chapter order has been fixed. All the story arcs are now together! Hopefully this will make the story easier to read, lol!**

 **Disclaimer: I wish I owned descendants, but I don't.**

* * *

What was De Vil thinking going out in his condition? Chad watched him head out and take the dog out toward the tourney field. He thought the kid was just crazy and was going to head in, but the rain started again and the kid was still not back after he had been standing there for about ten minutes. He may not like Carlos, but even Chad Charming was not totally heartless.

With much grumbling on his part Chad had headed out into the rain after Carlos. When he reached the tourney field he groaned aloud because the kid was not there and he was drenched and… crap!

Chad looked longingly at the school for a moment then turned begrudgingly toward the woods. That was the only place the kid could have gone. For three very important reasons, one he was walking Dude and that mutt loved the woods. Two the dog would have undoubtedly ran into the woods and because the kid had a soft spot for the dog and he had absolutely no common sense, he would have went after the dog instead of being smart and waiting out the rain then going after the dog. Yeah, even Chad would have went after the dog AFTER the rain let up. The third and most important reason, at least as far as Chad was concerned, it would have been much too easy for him to sitting under the bleachers. Chad blew wet bangs out of his face and glared up at the sky that continued to drench him.

What had he been thinking? Why on earth had he left the dry safety of the school, to go after a VK? Okay the kid had looked terrible and he was amazed that he had even managed to stay awake during classes. Of course he was only aware of this fact because for some reason the kid had ended up next to him all day. As he thought back to the sickly look on the kids face he reluctantly headed into the wood to go after the kid.

* * *

Aimless wandering, that was the only way Chad could think to describe what he was doing at the moment. He had been in the woods for ten minutes and had no clue where Carlos was. As he was about to give up and try a different direction he heard a bark coming from somewhere in front of him, so he continued forward.

The barking grew louder and Chad moved faster. The sound meant Carlos had to be close. The dog would not wander to far from the kid. All he had to do was catch up, make sure the kid was fine, and then he could head back to the school without a guilty conscience. He was practically running by the time he saw Dude and was moving so quickly that he just about missed the fact that there was a sudden drop. However the rain slickened ground made stopping a little tricky. Chad found himself scrambling for anything to stop his possible fall, and just as his feet slipped of the ledge his hand found purchase on a sturdy tree branch. With a sigh of relief he glanced down. Okay, the fall would not have been that bad, it would have hurt but….

"De Vil." He finally found the kid… who wasn't moving.

"Carlos." Chad called out again, and when the kid still did not respond he found himself growing anxious.

It was a harsh cough that brought Chad back into focus. Carlos shifted slightly only to tense, in what Chad assumed to be pain, but then was the boy was still once again. Chad grew worried. He needed help. Anxious hands began patting down pockets look for a cell phone, but much to Chad's dismay he quickly realized that he had lost the thing….again.

Quickly coming to terms that he was on his own, Chad looked for a way to get to Carlos. It soon became evident that the only way to do that would involve climbing down. He was relatively pleased to find the descent to not be all that difficult, but the feeling did not last long. Once his feet touched the ground and he was closer to the younger boy he saw the true extent of Carlos's condition was much worse than he thought. Now he could see that the boy's ankle was swollen and the implications of that were not lost on him. He could also hear the rattling in Carlos's chest as well as the uneven gasps coming his mouth.

Chad quickly made his way to Carlos's side. He dropped to his knees next to him and his hands hovered uncertainly near his unconscious form. He did not even need to touch him to feel the heat coming off the younger's body. Carlos was trembling from either pain or the cold, maybe both, his normally perfectly styled white hair was plastered to his face. It was impossible to tell if he was sweating with the rain that was pouring on them. All in all the kid was a mess. Chad knew that he needed to get him out of the woods and to someone who could help. Being out in this weather was definitely not helping.

"Time to put those rescuing the princess lessons to use." Chad muttered to himself.

Chad reached down and pulled Carlos up so he could get him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, knowing that he would need at least one hand to get them back up the embankment. While it was not that difficult to get down, as he gazed up with the kid on his shoulder, the task of climbing up looked a lot more daunting. With a deep breath he steeled himself for the task at hand. He reached out for a sturdy root and began the long process of getting back up the ditch.

It was not until he had managed to them both back over the edge of the embankment that he had an alarming thought. Carlos had not so much as twitched when he touched him. From previous experience, from all four of the VKs, he knew that…well that never happened. The four of them did not like physical contact, they would get all twitchy and move away as quickly as they could. This stillness that Carlos had going on was disturbing to no end. He was, after all, the twitchiest of the four of the island kids. Chad had to force the worry down, focus that energy on getting them back to the school, he could worry later.

"Come on Dude, lets head back." With that Chad started to make his way back the way he came.

They had not been walking long when thunder decided to rumble across the sky. The noise surprised Chad and when his head jerked toward the noise he failed to notice the root that he caught his shoe on and caused him to stumble. The noise also must have registered to Carlos because he jerked on Chad's shoulder. This in combination with Chad's stumble caused Chad's body lurch to the side and soon both boys tumbled to the ground.

Chad just sat there a moment, then proceeded to crawl over to check on Carlos. The younger boy was curled into a ball.

"Carlos?" Chad reached out to touch Carlos's shoulder. The boy pulled himself into a tighter ball, and whimpered and started mumbling feverish broken apologies.

"I'm….Sorry…I...I…Won't….."

Something about the scene bothered Chad to no end. He could not really place why. Why did he want cry?

"Please…I...I'll do….better…just…."

As Carlos trailed off Chad was really having to fight back tears. Why, in the name of all that was good, was the younger boy's mumbling doing this to him?

"Don't….lock…." Carlos trailed off into a whimper.

Tears fell from his eyes as realization dawned on him. He had seen this before. He had been in this situation before, with his mother. She had nightmares sometimes. Given how she had grown up it was not really that surprising.

"Please let me out." Carlos sat straight up struggling to catch his breath. Struggling against the door his fevered mind convinced him he was trapped behind.

Chad played the jumbled plea in his head. _I'm sorry. I won't…please I'll do better just… don't lock…._

"The door." His mom said that sometimes, don't lock the door, when she dreamed that she didn't get downstairs in time. She dreamed that she was still there, with her stepmother.

" _They were raised by their parents"_ his words from the croquet field came back to his head. The implications of the statement now meant something totally different to him. They were raised by their parents. Trapped with them, with no chance. _"What do you think villains teach their kids, kindness, fair play?"_

"Please, let me out." Carlos brought Chad out of his thoughts. The kid was now once again curled in a ball. No villains don't teach their children kindness or fair play.

"Evie was right, I am the biggest jerk in all the land." If anyone should have understood these kids it should have been him. Because if anyone in this kingdom could relate to these kids it was his mother.

Carlos suddenly went ridged. His trembling went to full on twitching and jerking. This lasted for a few moments before the kid went still, then promptly vomited. The boys chest heaved as he fought to catch his breath. Then he went limp.

Chad was rooted in place for the whole ordeal.

"I want out." That pained statement caused Chad to move.

"I know." He said as he knelt next to Carlos. He reached down and sat the kid up.

"Can you help me?" Chad started at the statement. This was the first time throughout the time he had been with him that Carlos had acknowledged his presence.

"You with me De Vil?" Chad swept hair away from the younger boys face to get a better look at his eyes. His eyes were still glazed with fever. Chad was not sure if the kid knew who he was beyond the fact that he was another living body, who might just be able to help him.

"Yeah, I can help you. I'm going to pick you up now."

once Carlos nodded his consent Chad scooped the boy up into his arms. Chad registered for the first time just how light the kid was. He needed to eat more.

"Come on Dude let's get him back to the school." The dog dutifully followed behind the two boys.

* * *

Chad made the walk back to the school in a sort of daze not really focusing anything other than the events that had just happened and the limp body in his arms. His fever seemed to be getting higher and the coughs sounded worse the longer they were out in the rain. It was not until he heard voices that he realized they were almost back to the school. Even then he paid no attention to any of the people who were around him. He needed to get the boy in his arms help. He didn't have time to stop and chat.

He didn't stop moving until he was inside, and that was only because he had ran into someone. He looked up and realized he had bumped into the former king. He looked worried when he saw Carlos in his arms. He then said something as he looked past Chad. It was then Chad realized that he had a few people with him. Ben, and Jay were at either side of, both soaked. Evie was behind him with the Dude cradled in her arms, Mal was close to her talking on a phone.

Chad caught movement out of the corner of his eye, and turned slightly to see Doug running in the direction of the infirmary. With no real thought Chad headed after him. The others were following along. Jay and Ben were still close looking as if they were ready to catch Carlos should he drop him. Chad was relived, because honestly he was not sure how much further he could make it on his own.

Once they arrived the nurses took Carlos from him and asked him what had happened. Once he had explained everything they got to work and Ben pulled him from the room and lead to his own. Ben had told him to dry off and Change.

Chad had nodded and turned to do that.

"Hey."

Chad turned to look at Ben.

"Thanks, you were a real hero today. Jay said to let you know that they are grateful that you found him." With that he turned and left Chad to his thoughts.

He was no hero. He did not even act like the prince he should be. Jay and the others owed him no thanks. He did not deserve it. He should have reached out to them the moment they stepped on campus. He should have seen the signs the moment he meet Carlos. It should not have taken a fever induced delirium for him to put the pieces together. Carlos was similar Chad's mother. He was…he did not deserve to grow up the way she had. How the two of them stayed kind was beyond Chad.

Chad flopped on his bed in despair. He felt like such a jerk. As slumped to the side he landed on something hard. He dug through his sheets to find whatever it was. After a few moments he pulled out his phone. He stared at it a moment before he went through his contacts. Once he found who he was looking for he hit call. The person answered on the first ring.

"Hey mom…

* * *

Carlos woke feeling miserable, but dry, it must have stopped raining. He laid there a moment with his eyes closed to realize that the ground was more comfortable than he remembered it being. With more effort than he ever remembered it taking before, he opened his eyes.

He looked around and found himself in a room he had never seen before. Before he could figure out where he was the door opened and much to his shock Chad Charming walked in. The two boys stared at each other for a moment before Chad broke the silence.

"Can I come in?"

Carlos nodded uncertainly, why was Chad Charming here?

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine." Carlos stated a little too quickly. Upon see the unamused look on Chad's face he rephrased.

"I mean, I've felt better."

"Understandable." Chad said with a concerned look.

Okay this was weird. What was Chad up to? He had to be up to something. But, he was here and Carlos had questions, so Chad would have to do.

"Where am I?"

"Infirmary."

Infirmary? The school had an infirmary. He guessed that made sense with students living here, and he guessed even royalty got sick.

"How did I get here? I distinctly remember being in the woods."

He watched Chad tense slightly at his question, before he answered.

"I found you."

"You?"

"Yes."

"Where you looking for me?" Carlos was confused. Why on earth would Chad be looking for him? It made no sense. He must have stumbled upon him like maybe he was wandering in the woods or something. In the rain?

"Yes I was looking for you." Chad stated before Carlos could figure out the answer for himself. Good thing to, because Carlos did not think he would have come to that conclusion on his own.

"Why?"

"You didn't look well. When you did not come back with Dude after it started raining I went to look for you."

"Oh…"

"How long have you been sick?"

"I started feeling bad Friday, but it just hit hard today."

"So, Monday."

"Yeah…today is Monday." Carlos explained slowly, maybe Chad was sick too or just confused…

"Today is Thursday not Monday."

"What?"

"You've been out for three days."

Carlos was shocked and it must have showed on his face because Chad started talking again.

"You were not doing so well when I found you. You had taken a tumble down a small embankment, thing almost took me out to, sprained your ankle. You were out of it so I had to carry you back up."

"Sorry about that." Chad just waved away the apology then continued talking.

"Things were going pretty good once I got you out, and then I tripped, and…."

Chad looked a little green for a moment. Carlos watched in concern as Chad took a breath to steady himself.

"Things went downhill after that."

"How?" Carlos suddenly felt uncomfortable what had he done? Maleficent! He threw up on him, that had to be it. He always threw up when he was sick. He was going to apologize when Chad started talking again.

"You started mumbling and I think you're fever was high enough it caused you to have a seizure or something."

Carlos was stunned. That was new. He had never had a seizure at least not that he was aware of.

"Have you talked to anyone about what happened?"

"I didn't know I had seizures to…"

"Not that, anyway their pretty sure that was like a onetime thing."

Okay that was a relief he did not want to add seizures to the list of things that were wrong with him.

"What I mean is what happened on the island. You were mumbling about her locking you up, and that you wanted out."

Carlos felt his breath hitch, as his mind went to unwanted place. He went to curl up, but arms that were suddenly around him would not allow it.

"Don't get stuck in there Carlos. You're not trapped behind the door we…you got out."

Chad was holding him in a way that told Carlos that he had done this before. He was grateful for that, because it worked, and memories of being stuck in his mother's closet were memories he did not like to get trapped in.

"I'm sorry I brought it up, but you need to talk to someone about it. It only gets worse if you don't."

"Talking from experience?" Carlos gasped out as his body started to wind down from an unwanted burst of adrenalin.

"Sort of, my mom has had similar experience. Sometimes she has nightmares about not getting out of her room in time."

"Oh…"

"Is this the first time you've had a reaction to the memories or a panic attack?"

"No."

Chad then said some very un-princely words about Carlos's mother and surprisingly enough himself. That last part confused Carlos to no end. After a few moments Chad calmed down.

"I should have seen the signs when I first meet you Carlos and I should have tried to help you sooner. I apologize for that."

"It's okay." Carlos was still not sure way Chad was so upset.

He looked watched Chad read the confusion his face and seem almost angry for a moment, and Carlos was going to apologize, and Chad must have read that look on his face as well, because he held up a hand to stop him.

"It's not okay, at least tell me that Doug knows about the attacks."

"Yeah he helped me with one after the coronation."

"That's good, he's dealt with them too. At least someone pays attention."

Chad seemed to have more to say about the situation, but chose to keep quiet. Carlos was kind of glad because he still did not feel well and really wanted to go to sleep.

"Hey, would you consider talking to my mom? You could come over sometime, she really wants to meet you." Chad asked as Carlos had started to doze off again.

Carlos looked at Chad, this guy was doing nothing, but confusing him today. Chad was the last person Carlos had ever expect to invite him to come visit their mom. But why not.

"Sure, as long as it is not raining. I hate the rain."

* * *

 _ **AN: And another arc is done. I like the story pretty well. It went in a completely different direction than I had originally planned, but what can you do?**_

 _ **I don't know how I feel about the end of the chapter.**_

 _ **Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter.**_

 _ **Till next chapter**_

 _ **~Light's Lady**_


	7. Feels like today's going to be a bad day

**AN: Hello! I am back! So sorry It took so long to get this out, but life kind of had a strangle hold on all my time.**

 **Thank you everyone who viewed, faved, and followed this story!**

 **On that note 99 favs only two more to 101!**

 **The 101** **st** **fav will get a special shout out and get to pick which story arc or one shot I post next!**

 **The 101** **st** **review will also get something special, but I have not decided what it will be yet. Well I only have 55 reviews at the moment so I have time to figure it out. Lol**

 **On the Note of Reviews:**

 **Book girl fan: I totally agree with you. This is something I might explore further in a chapter with Audrey and Carlos.**

 **squishy the human: Sorry it took so long, but here is an update. Also as requested Belle and Carlos feels have been written. I hope you enjoy!**

 **Guest: I am glad you enjoyed the story. I might do some more with Chad, but I am not sure.**

 **Guest: I am glad you enjoyed. I don't think there will be much in the way of romance, I suck at writing it. Lol. There will be a family/friendship type of relationship between the characters in my story. But lots of Angst/hurt and comfort stuff going on.**

 **LoveShipper: I do think Chad can be a decent guy, it something I might explore more.**

 **Thefan: Glad you enjoyed it. I plan to keep writing.**

 **camacazi1: Thanks! I try my best. And I offer a very overdue update.**

 **biankies: I am glad you enjoyed it! Sorry it took so long to get it out, and this update as well.**

 **Sand-wolf579: I agree. Though I think Carlos could be friends with anyone.**

 **CarVie Shipper: Thank you. I liked the chapter, but that was not what I had originally planned. It was going to be King Beast who found him, but Chad would not leave my head so he got to be the hero. Sorry this update took so long, but life happened. Lol**

 **Any way this was a request from squishy the human.**

 **Prompt: what about before they left the island Carlos was abused by his mother and he has a flashback when someone accidentally hits him and belle comforts him.**

 **Anyway this is my attempt at doing a request. I tried and I hope you enjoy!**

 **Warning: There will be brief mentions of past Child abuse. I will mark where it begins, so you will know when it starts. It is nothing graphic, but it could be a trigger for someone so warnings will be made! There is also a change in font to note this part of the story so just skip the italicized if this sort of thing bother** **s you.**

 ***!Chapter order has been fixed. All the story arcs are now together! Hopefully this will make the story easier to read, lol!**

 **Disclaimer: Not Mine!**

* * *

Today was going to be a bad day.

Carlos woke with that thought at the forefront of his mind. It was like a sixth sense he had developed over the years with his mother. He liked to think of it as a warning system. If he woke up feeling like this he knew to brace himself for the wrath his mother was sure to bring down on him. In a way it put him at ease knowing what he should expect in the day. That was when he was on the island.

Here, in Auradon, however the feeling through him for a loop. He sat up with a trembling in his hands and nausea in his gut. What could that feeling mean here? He tried to push the thoughts down as he made his way through his daily routine of getting dressed. They lingered though, well more like clung to his mind, a leech did not hold this tight to its prey.

He felt like he was walking through a haze as he made his way through the hall way. If people tried to talk to him it was like he was underwater and that got to him was garbled noise. It had him swallowing back bile as panic tried to latch on to his chest. He pushed through the crowds in the hall and ignored the worried glances that were sent his way.

Why was today going to be so bad? What was wrong with today? It was just a day.

Right?

Someone put a hand on his shoulder causing him to jump.

Carlos looked up into the frowning face of Jay. His mouth was moving, but the words could not force their way to his ears. He saw the exasperated sigh more than he heard it as Jay hauled him down the hall in the opposite direction.

They were outside before Carlos figured out where they were headed. Tourney game today. That explained the odd glances he was getting from the other students, he should have been warming up with the team.

Jay had pulled him into the locker room and tossed Carlos his uniform, before quickly heading out the door.

Assuming that he should hurry Carlos tried to quickly put on his uniform. However it was more difficult than it should have been. The trembling seemed to have stopped but his fingers were tingling like they did when his hand would fall asleep. After struggling for longer than he should have Carlos made his way out the door to the rest of his team.

Thoughts were still bouncing in his head as he sat. There was something important about today. In fact he felt it was something vital to his survival, as dramatic as that sounded in his head, it was the feeling that was running wild in his gut.

A tap on his leg brought him out of his musing, but not his mind. Coach was talking to him, but the words were frustratingly out of reach.

Carlos blinked and looked toward where coach was gesturing, oh, they must want him on the field. He stood and walked past coach and headed toward the field. Before he could reach it he was tugged back.

Carlos was confused did they want him to go on the field or not? He looked up at the person pulling him back and saw Chad looking at him with a frown.

Before he could as what was wrong Chad was forcing a shield in his hand and a helmet on his head. Then he tugged Carlos along behind him as he headed toward the field himself.

As Carlos followed behind him he could not help but wonder if he should be playing in the confused state he was in. He looked around and saw that the other team was not particularly big, as far as some of the other guys they had gone up against were concerned. In fact a lot of the boys were his size and he was always the smallest guy on the field. The boys …. That's right today they were going up against the Neverland Gators. How could he forget that, after all it was also his mom's birthday.

Everything came to a screeching halt in his mind as the problem finally worked its self out in his head. Today was her birthday. He forgot her birthday!

Maleficent! He forgot, she was going to be so mad.

A shrill sound made its way to his ears and he tensed as the sound of the cars breaks sounded through his head.

She was coming. Something slammed into his gut and in reflex his fist made contact with it. The moment that he made contact with skin he realized his mistake. He hit her. Why in the name of all that was evil did he do that?

A hit across his face made him panic, he had to get away. She would not be forgiving now. He was kicking now and the blows from above him kept coming in retaliation.

* * *

Belle was concerned as she saw the way Carlos stumbled toward the field. She looked next to her and saw similar looks on the faces of the girls next to her.

She turned back to the field and saw her boys kept glancing and the youngest on the team. This was bad. They weren't focused.

As she stood to go tell the coach to pull him from the field the ref had blown the whistle. Her head whipped to the field. Their team was not ready and it was made clear by the way that the opposing team shot past them. Carlos was standing rigged on the field and from her place in the stands she could see the rapid rise and fall of his chest. He wasn't moving other than that.

Belle watched in horror as a boy from the other team collided with him. As Carlos reflexively threw a fist out she knew the situation was going to go downhill fast, and was running toward the field before anyone else could move.

Jay, Ben and Chad found themselves frozen as Carlos hit the ground and mouths dropped as he threw the first punch.

However when the punch was returned they all snapped out of their stupor. Jay had the guy tackled before he could get more than a couple of hits in.

"Stupid VKs. All they're good for is causing trouble." The boy spat out as he rolled away from Jay. As he walked by Carlos he landed a vicious kick in his side. This caused the already curled up boy to curl tighter in on himself and start muttering what sounded like apologies over and over.

Chad grabbed Jay before he could tackle the boy again, but no one was prepared for the roar that left Ben's mouth as he went after the boy who had kicked Carlos.

Before anyone else could even think about moving the former queen had stepped onto the field and went past everyone else and headed for the boy on the ground.

As coach separated the two fighting boys Jay and Chad watched the queen kneel next to Carlos, she pulled his helmet off and was troubled by the faraway look in the boy's eyes.

* * *

(*Trigger Warning. Mentions of past abuse.)

 _Carlos was huddled on the floor as his mother paced the room. His cheek still stung from where she had struck him. He had a hand clutched across his middle trying to keep his ribs from moving too much. Though he was finding that difficult with the way he was heaving breaths into his lungs. He was scared he had never seen his mom this angry._

 _She was suddenly on him. Something was in her hand. A Belt! He quickly moved his hands from his ribs to his face trying to keep it covered and protected from the pain that was coming. But she would not have it. She was pulling his hands away from his face. She was going to tie him up and beat him again._

 _Carlos was torn between struggling to get away or going limp and hoping she would finish quickly._

 _He fought to pull his hands away. He at least wanted his hands to be free. Some form of control, just a little bit of control!_

 _Please_

 _Please_

 _PLEASE!_

* * *

Belle struggled with getting the boys hands away from his face. Though the moment she had moved them the boy started panicking.

He was twisting and pulling away from her. He only struggled for a few moments before going limp, but the stillness only lasted for a moment before he started tugging his hands away from her again. She would not release them though and this only seemed to agitate the boy even more.

"PLEASE!"

The sudden outburst from Carlos caused everyone to jump. It was as if that single word was what was needed to burst the dam. The screams followed quickly behind the plea.

Tears burned in her own eyes as she looked at the distraught child. He was just a child. A child in pain. Pain that she had helped to cause.

She took a fortifying breath and braced herself for the struggle to come. She helped put this young boy in this state and it would be her duty to help him recover. After all Belle was not one to turn her back on a mistake she had made.

In a quick move that came from her experience as a mother she pulled the sobbing boy up into her arms. He was trapped in whatever horrible memory his mind had conjured and she needed to get him out of it.

She started to rock gently back and forth. Speaking softly in to the boy's ear she tried to bring him to the present. Hoping that a gentle approach would get past the harshness the boy had endured in his life.

She could feel his breathing even out. His hands which were trapped between the two clutched at the front of her shirt. She was no longer having to force his head to her shoulder because he was burrowing under her chin. She stroked his hair the way she had always done when Ben was younger to chase away the bad thoughts and dreams that had once plagued her baby boy.

She knew the exact moment Carlos was back in his right mind because the boy suddenly tensed under her hand and tried rather unsuccessfully to straighten himself up. The struggle did not last long before the boy slumped tiredly against her. She felt hot tears against her neck as emotion finally over took the boy.

The strength the child in her arms always showed had at last given out revealing the scared and damaged boy beneath the carefully constructed façade. All she could do was hold him all the tighter and shield him from the world that had up until this point been painfully cruel to him. She was unsure how long she had sat with Carlos before a hand on her shoulder brought her out the safe haven she had created for the boy.

Belle looked up to meet the pained eyes of her husband. The man the world knew as king Beast knelt down and took the exhausted boy from her arms. She witnessed a gentleness that had only ever been shown to her, their son, and those who had lived with him during his cursed years.

A slight smile found its way to her face, it seemed that her heart had not been the only one the white haired boy had captured.

She followed him to the car that was already loaded with the other three children from the island and her son. He allowed her to get in first so that he could lay the now sleeping boy between them.

Belle once again found her hands stroking his hair and frowned. She felt warmth coming from his face. She sighed to herself, the poor boy had worked himself up to the point he was sick, or maybe he got so worked up because he was sick. Either way going on previous experience with the boy she knew this had potential to escalate very quickly.

* * *

As predicted, sickness grabbed onto the boy with a vengeance. Belle was currently rubbing the boys back as he heaved up the food that they had managed to get him to eat earlier. Once he was finished she settled him back on the bed.

"Sorry." He mumbled miserably

"It's fine Carlos. It happens to the best of us." Belle assured as reached for a cool cloth to place on his head.

"I am so useless." He sighed.

Belle had to force herself not to react to his words.

"What makes you think that?" she asked quietly instead.

"My mom made sure to let me know exactly how she felt about me." He scoffed to her.

"Does that have something to do with what happened today?" Belle sat back and watched the boy.

He appeared to be embarrassed. So she waited patiently for him to gather his thoughts. After a moment he covered his eyes.

"Today is her birthday, and I forgot. I have only ever done that one other time and it was an experience I would rather not repeat. I don't know why but I knew I was forgetting something all day, and it hit me on the tourney field what exactly it was…I panicked."

The groaned and rolled away from her.

"I know I was being ridiculous, and I am so sorry for the scene I caused."

Belle sighed and stood. She the forced Carlos to turn and face her.

"You have done nothing to be sorry for Carlos, and I think you are far from useless."

The words seemed to mean more to Carlos than Belle could possibly be aware of, but she figured it out when the boy had flung his arms around her neck and hugged tightly.

* * *

Maybe today was not so bad after all.

* * *

 ** _AN: And End Chapter!_**

 ** _All of my stories relate to one another but they are not in chronological order, I hope that does not confuse anyone. This story would have taken place after chapter 7._**

 ** _I Hope you all enjoyed! Feel free to review, tell me what you think. I enjoyed doing the request, so don't be shy about asking for something. No slash though, I can't write that stuff. Family/friendship Angst/hurt and comfort, well I am your girl!_**

 ** _Till next time_**

 ** _~ Light's Lady_**


	8. Winter BREAK

**AN: Hey everyone! I'm back. This is not the last chapter to "It Started with a bad dream", but that chapter will be up before the New Year. I Think Wednesday it should be done, it is over half way done and I'm already past 1,000 words. I just am having a hard time finishing it up.**

 **This is a spur of the moment holiday oneshot I wanted to post for Christmas.**

 **I'll respond to reviews next chapter, but I wanted to let you guys know how much I appreciate them, as well as the views, follows and favs. You are all super awesome!**

 ***!Chapter order has been fixed. All the story arcs are now together! Hopefully this will make the story easier to read, lol!**

 **Disclaimer: Still not mine.**

* * *

Winter break in Auradon means that all the students go home for the holidays. Sense there was no way that Ben was going to allow Mal, Jay, Evie and Carlos to go back to the Island he had made arrangements for them to stay with him and his parents. Belle had been thrilled, but the former king had been a little harder to convince. None the less his four friends had arrived Friday after school and the last six days had been so fun, but it was Christmas eve and the atmosphere had turned bright with the anticipation of what was about to come. The four children from the island were amazed by the change that had taken over the castle. The excitement of its occupants had rubbed off on them. Carlos especially.

Carlos was currently bouncing from room to room totally amerced in the changes that the decorations brought to the feel of the old castle. Christmas was not something that they really practiced on the island, but they were aware of it none the less. Now that he was seeing the lights and the overall feeling of joy that seemed to be coming from everyone around them, yeah this would be weird on the island. But here, well, all he could do was smile.

"Enjoying the sights?" Carlos jumped at the sudden voice, but turned with a large smile across his lips. This caused the person behind him to chuckle.

"Ben this is so great!" Carlos was practically bouncing.

"Just wait it gets better." Ben chuckled

"I don't see how it could."

"Well if you'll go put on something warmer and meet us at the main entrance in about five minutes you'll find out." Ben turned causally toward his room and left without another word.

Ben did not even make it to the door before a black and white blur shot past him. Ben found another laugh bubbling in his chest. Carlos seemed so much younger at the moment. It was great to watch the younger boy so care free. Everyone in the castle seemed eager to help the four former villains experience a wonderful Christmas, but Carlos was the one they were most eager to watch. Every little thing had the boy beaming with happiness and going on for hours on end to whoever would listen, and there was not a soul in the castle that could turn the boy down, about how wonderful everything was. Even grumpy old Cogsworth was going out of his way to make sure this was the best Christmas the Castle had seen in years.

Ben could only shake his head as he made his way to the front entrance. Once he arrived he found his mom, Jay, and Chip already waiting. His mother looking eagerly behind Ben.

"Carlos should be here…."

"I'm here." Carlos came barreling down the hall interrupting Ben before he could finish.

"What are we doing?" Jay asked from where he was leaned against the doorway.

"We are going to get the Christmas tree." Belle answered as she stepped forward and wrapped a scarf snuggly around Carlos's neck.

"We do this every year while the others get the decorations prepared." Ben explained as he passed Jay a pair of gloves, then turned to give Carlos a pair.

* * *

Getting the tree had been had been interesting for the island boys. Snow was not something that really happened on the island. So the walk to the woods had been filled with snow ball fights. The frozen lake was a different experience all together.

Jay had picked up how to get across easy enough, but poor Carlos had a harder time getting his footing. Belle had offered to let him ride on the sleigh that they had brought to carry back the tree, but Carlos had stubbornly refused. So Belle had patiently guided him across the lake. By the time the two had reached the other side the three boys on the other side had narrowed down tree choices. In the end Carlos had made the decision. He found one that he deemed the perfect height and width for the main room in the castle.

As Ben and Jay helped Chip to tie down the tree onto the sled Belle and Carlos started to discuss how they should decorate the tree.

* * *

"I think we should break out the tinsel this year." Belle told Ben as the crossed the lake for their return trip to the castle.

"Tinsel?" Carlos asked as he steadied himself before he ended up on his butt again.

"It's this shinny stringy stuff that gets absolutely everywhere." Ben laughed as he tugged at the sleigh.

It was caught on a small rock. Jay and Chip were helping him tug on the sled. Belle and Carlos seeing the dilemma came up from the other side and started to push. Between The five of them they pushed the sled over the over the rock with a bounce. It lurched forward and Carlos stumbled. He was unable to catch himself this time. The moment he landed a loud crack echoed across the lake. Chip and Belle turned toward Carlos in concern, and before anyone could make a sound or another move Carlos was suddenly gone from where he had been.

The rope that Belle had made the small group wear around there waist for just such an event suddenly jerked threatening to pull the rest toward the hole, but Jay had fallen onto the bank when they had pulled the sleigh free. If there was one thing you learned on the island it was how to think on your feet and Jay had quickly registered the coming problem when Carlos fist started to disappear beneath the ice and had anchored himself around the tree next to him.

Belle and Chip were the first to jump into action by pulling on the rope, but Jay and Ben did not take more than a second to help haul Carlos out of the water. It felt like ages even though everything happened in a matter of seconds, before Carlos's head broke the surface.

* * *

Carlos was gasping and shivering as he made his way to the edge. For the first time ever he was glad he had grown up on the island. You learned really quickly that all panicking did was make a situation harder. His logical mind went into overdrive the moment he hit the water, quickly assessing the situation. He initially wanted to struggle when he remembered that he could not swim, but that only lasted a second before he felt the tug of the rope around his waist. His friends would pull him out and he would be fine he just had to hold his breath until then. It was not until he broke the surface that he registered just how cold he was. It was like logical suddenly flew out the window and his mind was focused on the single thought that he was freezing.

He registered the hands pulling him away from the water only like a vague sensation. He was barely aware of the hands tugging at his clothes. His world still narrowed to one sensation…cold. He was not aware of anything until they were nearly back at the castle. He had finally gone from feeling frozen, to uncomfortably cold. Uncomfortably cold allowed him to think, so he assessed his current situation. Cloths were no longer wet nor his, and he decided that he did not have the energy to be embarrassed about that at the moment. What he did have the energy to do was cuddle close to warm thing that he was clinging to. Which was…Carlos looked up and meet the concerned eyes of Queen Belle.

"Its okay sweetie were almost back, we'll get you warm soon."

Carlos thought that was a good idea. He was getting really tired of being cold. He started to drift when a thought suddenly struck him.

"You got the tree right." He did not want to be nearly turned into a Popsicle for nothing.

"Yep, we got the tree." Belle assured as she pulled her jacket snugger around the two.

"Good. I think we should use the tinsel." He rested his head against Belle's shoulder and sighed as she started to stroke his hair.

"Really?"

"Yeah it is our first Christmas tree we should go all out."

"Sounds good to me." Belle chuckled.

Carlos smiled and curled as close to Belle as he could get, he never knew a person could be so warm. It was nice. It was better than a blanket.

Belle tightened her arms around him.

Carlos sighed, utterly content, the cold was only a slightly uncomfortable now and being held like this was more than worth a little chill. Then tree would be worth his brief dip in the lake, their first Christmas in Auradon was going to be awesome.

He would have to remember to thank Ben for inviting them.

* * *

 _ **AN: And Done! It was short, but I kind of liked it. I might add to it, but I don't know. Most likely this will be it with this.**_

 _ **It was a little rushed because I wanted to post it today and time got away from me.**_

 _ **Anyway I hope everyone has a happy holiday, however you choose to celebrate.**_

 _ **Merry Christmas everyone!**_

 _ **~ Light's Lady**_


	9. Hush little baby

**AN: Hello! I am back, with an update. I know it's crazy that it took less than a month for this to happen, but I happen to like the story I am working on at the moment, lol. This is the first part of this story arc. It was going to be a one shot, but it was at almost 3,000 words and I am still at the beginning of the story, so I found a nice place to break for the first chapter at 2,555 words.**

 **Thanks for the follows and favs!**

 **Speaking of favs…..** **Melancholy's Sunshine was the 101** **st** **, thank you!**

 **Oh! And thanks for the reviews as well!**

 **LOTRcool: Happy you enjoyed it!**

 **Sofilib: …..you enjoyed it though,… right?**

 **Light: Thank you, and that will happen at some point. Glad you loved it.**

 **LoveShipper: Yep. ….For now…**

 **Roxanne Martinez chapter 7: It is something I am considering.**

 **Melancholy's Sunshine: Poor BABY indeed, lol. Anyway, hmm…her henchmen…. Well, well they might just have some story potential. I had not thought of using them until you brought it up.**

 **Guest chapter: Yep, I did, lol. And look here is another one in less than….two months or was it three, no only two I think, gosh, it took me forever to update that last one. Trust me there is plenty of Carlos angst to come.**

 **biankies: Happy to hear that you enjoyed it, and thanks for the understanding. Hmm…. Well a Jay and Carlos chapter might just be in the works already.**

 **squishy the human: I am glad you enjoyed it**

 **Sand-wolf579: Belle was always my favorite Disney Princess growing up. Yep, poor Carlos, why must I torture him so? I don't know.**

 **This story arc was selected by Melancholy's Sunshine, and I hope you all enjoy!**

 ***!Chapter order has been fixed. All the story arcs are now together! Hopefully this will make the story easier to read, lol!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Descendants.**

* * *

The group was talking happily as they ate on the lawn.

Mal was stealing bites of food off of Ben's plate, and Ben was pretending that he was unaware of what she was doing, while he discussed Tourney with Jay. Evie and Doug were leaned close together studying for a chemistry test that was the following day as they snacked of the plate in front of them. Every now and then the two would offer a laugh or comment at whatever absurd comment came out of Jay's mouth. Carlos was content to happily stuff his face full of food while he watched his friends.

The picnic had been his idea. They had all been working hard whether school, tourney or band. He figured some down time was in order. So he had forced the others to spend time with each other, and by force them he meant he had talked to Evie

* * *

"Hey Evie, you busy?"

"Working on homework, but that can wait. Something you need?" She looked up and smiled and Carlos frowned and fidgeted with his fingers.

He had missed getting to spend time with everyone, but they had all been so busy lately he did not want to be a bother.

"Never mind, you're busy." He started to walk away, but was pulled to a stop by a delicate hand on his shoulder.

"What is it?" She asked in a voice that was concerned.

"I just wanted to talk, I mean we've all been so busy lately we have not spent much time together." He assured.

"You're right, we haven't… that is not acceptable. We have to do something about this."

"Well I was thinking about a picnic, but everyone…"

"Perfect! We'll have a picnic. I'll get everyone to come tomorrow. We'll need food and games and….." Carlos had put a hand on her shoulder as she was making her list causing her to pause.

"Evie I think we should see if everyone can come before…."

"Nonsense." She interrupted and handed him the list she had finished.

"You get that stuff together, and I'll get everyone…..hmm…. tomorrow evening, about seven, yeah that should be a good time."

With that Evie had gotten up and left her room to make preparations leaving Carlos with a list.

He shrugged and made his way out of the room himself, he had his orders and he knew better than to argue with Evie.

Okay, so Evie forced everyone to come, but it had been his idea so he was taking partial credit for the much needed break.

* * *

They had spent the next couple of hours together and now everyone was yawning and ready to head back in for the night.

Once Jay and Carlos made their way back to their room Jay claimed the bathroom to get ready for bed. So Carlos sat on the bed to cuddle with Dude while he waited for his turn. He noticed a box sitting on nightstand, so sat Dude on the bed to go check it out. He opened the box and was greeted to the sight of lovely chocolate candies. He smiled assuming Evie had left them for him, it would not be the first time she had done this. With that thought in mind he popped one in his mouth. He frowned as swallowed the first piece. They tasted odd…..hmm….maybe it was a weird flavor. He picked up the box to see if it could clue him in. Only to sigh in disappointment, of course she had boxed them herself. He pulled another chocolate from the box and took a bite and chewed slower trying to figure out what he tasting. He frowned and looked at the candy.

His eyes grew wide as he saw green goo in the middle, he quickly bent over the trash can and spite the remaining candy out and dumped the contents of the box in as well.

"You threw away Chocolate?" Jay asked in astonishment.

Carlos tossed the remaining half for Jay to inspect as he ran to the bathroom to brush his teeth and hopefully get rid of the flavor.

He heard Jay laughing from the other room.

"Wow, who knew that Auradonian kids could pull a prank. And have the guts to pick a VK victim. My respect for this place just doubled."

"Haha, very funny. You didn't just eat nasty candy." Carlos said as he came out of the bathroom to grab his pjs.

"But it is kind of impressive. Kind of remedial as far as pranks go, but impressive none the less." Carlos conceded with a laugh of his own as he finished getting ready for bed.

He pulled out his phone as he sat on the bed, a VK may appreciate a good prank, but warning your friends was also a good idea. So he sent texts to the others.

 ** _Beware boxed chocolate, just got pranked. Lol ;)_**

With that done he laid down and cuddled close to Dude. Time with friends was just what he needed.

* * *

Carlos woke with a groan in the middle of the night. He was hot, like really hot. He kicked his blankets off to the foot of the bed and tried to go back to sleep. However, Dude was still cuddled close and the heat he was putting off was sweltering. He frowned he didn't want to put Dude in the floor, but it really was too hot to cuddle. He looked over to Jay and saw that he was curled up his blankets. With a smile he stood, but had to pause a moment as a wave of dizziness rushed over him. He shook his head and it passed quickly. He then picked up Dude, walked over to the other bed and sat him next to Jay. The dog looked up at him cocked his head in confusion.

"Stay with Jay."

The dog studied him for a moment before laying down next to the older boy. Carlos smiled then he stumbled back to bed. Then he lay back down. It was still uncomfortably warm, but nowhere near as bad as before. Just as he was dozing back off he was suddenly hit with pain. It was everywhere! Like his body was trying to tear its self apart. He could not even scream, because the ferocity of the pain stole the breath from his lungs. It was steadily increasing in intensity and he could feel his body jerking and arching as if trying to escape from the torture that was being forced upon it. A choked cry finally escaped his lips as the pain became too much and he knew no more.

* * *

Jay's eyes snapped open at the sound of pain coming from the bed across from him. He sat up quickly only to look down at the feeling of a sudden weight on his lap. Dude was in the bed with him. He quickly picked the dog up to move it beside him so he could get up. Once he stood he looked to the bed and froze. That was definitely Carlos, there was no one else who could have that white hair here and the boy was still wearing the shirt Carlos had slept in, but it was not the version of his friend he was used to. He was….a baby, or toddler, whatever, he was a mini Carlos, the shirt was an oversized night gown on the boy now. All Jay could do was stand there and stare at his little buddy.

However, a pained whimper left the little body on the bed, and Jay practically flew across the room. He kneeled next to the bed to check mini Carlos. The small boy was trembling and sweat was rolling down his temples. If that was not enough proof that boy was in pain tiny eyebrows were drawn together and little eyes clenched shut. A ragged breath was drawn in and tears were now leaking down that little face. Jay watched those little hands reach out for just a second before they were quickly pulled around the trembling body.

He was…was….. Self-soothing. Even that little Carlos was having to take care of himself. Well Jay was sure they all had, heck every kid on the island probably had, but to see this, it was heart breaking.

So in an act that could only have been brought on because of being in Auradon, Jay reached down and lifted Carlos from the bed. He mimicked how he had seen Belle calm Carlos down on the Tourney field. He gently tucked Carlos' head under his chin. He used one hand to support the small body and the other to rub soothing circles on his back. The tiny body was so tense under his hands.

Jay walked across the room, grabbed his phone from the table and texted the rest of the group.

 ** _Carlos 911! Need back up. Heading your way._**

Jay walked to the door and stepped out in to the hall he waited for Dude to follow before he shut the door. He only made it couple of steps before he felt his phone vibrate.

"Hello."

 _"_ _I called Mal and told her and Evie to come to my room, that way if we need help we'll be closer to Fairy Godmother and the on duty nurse. So bring Carlos here."_

"Okay. See you soon." Jay changed directions and headed toward Ben's room. He felt like he should be more surprised that the group text message included Ben, but he really wasn't. Ben was a good guy and Mal liked him so….yeah of course he would end up in their group chat.

Ben might not have surprised him, but Doug kind of did. He was rounding the corner and nearly ran into Doug.

"I got the message, Ben sent me to see if you….Oh boy." Doug was looking at the little boy wrapped protectively in Jay's arms. He gulped and his eyes were wide.

"Tell Ben I am going to get Fairy Godmother." Doug then turned and ran back in the direction he had come from.

Jay sighed and walked the few remaining steps to Ben's door. Before he could even knock Ben had flung his door open. Much like Doug Ben's eyes went wide.

"Doug went to get Fairy Godmother." Jay said as he stepped into the room.

Ben nodded walked over to a table and picked up his phone. Jay watched as he laid Carlos on the big bed. Carlos was still tensed up, but the tears had stopped. It appeared that the boy still sleeping or unconscious as the case very well may be.

Jay heard Ben sit his phone back on the table and walk over to the bed. Ben sat down then ran a hand through Carlos's hair. The boy whimpered and turned his head into the young king's palm. Jay watched as Ben frowned but continued to stroke the little boy's hair.

"He is really warm Jay." Ben told Jay as his other hand touched the little boy's neck then back.

"Like really warm, it might be a bi product of whatever caused this…."

"Or a fever." Jay said as he knelt down next to the bed and checked the boy himself. If it was a fever it was a really bad one.

His hand trailed down a tiny arm and the heat was present there as well, but touching his arm cased little eyebrows to furrow. He was in pain...and miniaturized. This was not a simple fever.

"You're probably right, it looks like he is in a lot of pain to." Jay looked up at Ben

"What's wrong?!" Evie said as she and Mal burst into the room, causing the door to slam into the wall.

The noise caused the little boy on the bed to jump, and curl his body up as tiny hands clutched at the front of his oversized shirt. He started to whimper again.

Feeling out of his element Jay looked up at Ben. Quickly the young king was on his knees next to Jay. His face was close to the little boy's ear and whispered quiet platitudes to the trembling child as he took up carding a hand through white hair once again.

As Ben was doing that Jay stood to talk to the girls. They were both staring at the bed in shock then Jay as he stood before them.

"What happened?" Mal asked as she snapped to attention. Jay could already see her trying to work out the problem.

"Don't know. Woke up to the little guy….he was in pain. Must have been bad for Carlos to make noise." Jay sighed.

"Well we know had to happen after the picnic, or you know the school would have a few more mini VK's running around." Ben said as he came to stand next to Mal.

"Well, did anything out of the ordinary happen once you two got to your room?" Evie asked

"Not until I walked out of the bathroom and saw him throwing away chocolate."

"Carlos threw away chocolate?" Mal sounded skeptical. Jay smirked.

"Apparently it was some lame attempt at a prank. Had some weird goo in it." Jay said with a shrug.

"Did he eat one?" Mal asked

"Don't know. Maybe. Do you think that caused this?" Jay asked.

"Maybe. Can you get it, so we can check?" Evie looked concerned.

Jay nodded and moved to the door. As he opened it a heart wrenching scream filled the room. Jay and the others turned toward the bed to see a terrified Carlos sitting at one edge of the bed and a confused Dude at the other.

Dude whined and moved closer, causing Carlos to shriek again and tumble off the bed. He groaned quietly when he landed, but jumped back up quickly.

Mal, Evie, and Jay could see the boy was assessing the situation. Each knew from the way he acted just a moment ago with Dude that he not just physically smaller, whatever happened had messed with his head as well.

Jay recognized the boy's body language he was looking for an escape, and Jay was currently standing by his only means of doing so. He could see the moment the boy realized this. Jay knew the moment the boy was going to bolt, and he went to shut the door, but the little boy was too quick and got out the door shutting behind him the moment he was out it.

Jay quickly threw the door open, but that short time was all little Carlos needed to vanish.

"Oh, little buddy, where did you go?" Jay whispered as he stepped out after him.

"I'll call my parents and get them to help look." Ben said as he ran out past Jay.

"I'll call Doug." Then Evie was off in another direction.

"I'll head to your dorm, find that chocolate, see if I can figure out if that caused him to uh…. Revert. I'll look for him while I'm heading that way." Then Mal was running down the hall.

Jay headed for the front doors to make sure his little buddy did not get outside.

"Man, this stuff could only happen to us."

* * *

 ** _AN: End Chapter one of this story arc. Next chapter will have a lot of baby Carlos adorableness and it's me were talking about, so brace yourselves for angst galore._**

 ** _Next update should be sometime next week, as I am going to try and complete the story in the next couple of days._**

 ** _Until next chapter then_**

 ** _~Light's Lady_**


	10. Hush little baby: Chapter 2

**AN: Hello all, I am back with another update. This is chapter two of the Hush little baby arc.**

 **As always, I would like to thank everyone who has followed, faved, viewed this story. I hope I am keeping everyone entertained.**

 **The reviews keep me motivated, and I love hearing from you guys.**

 **Sonisun: I am happy that you enjoyed it, and look another update.**

 **Jewel Princess1992: I am glad to see you're enjoying the story, lol. And I updated when I said I would.**

 **Biankies: Well I suppose I won't make you wait too long to find out. Enjoy!**

 **Guest: Read on and find out. I think this Chapter addressed most of your questions.**

 **Melancholy's Sunshine: So much to think about, hmm. And Hey, you've seen my authors notes, lol, so ramble away. Who am I to judge.**

 **squishy the human: Glad you liked the chapter! Tada new one.**

 ***!Chapter order has been fixed. All the story arcs are now together! Hopefully this will make the story easier to read, lol!**

 ** _Anyway, on to the story, so that means…._**

 ** _Disclaimer: Descendants is soooo not mine._**

* * *

Carlos waited for the people to run past his hiding spot, before he dared to move. He knew they would assume he ran, it's what little kids did when they were scared. But Carlos knew he was smarter than other little kids, so he picked a spot close to the door he had run out of. He crawled out from behind the chair in that sat just outside the door.

As he stood he realized how much he hurt. He must have done something bad. Mommy must have punished him, but he did not remember being bad. He wanted to cry as he forced himself to walk, everything hurt…. He must have been really bad, and then there was the dog. Dogs eat little boys who don't behave, did she send him to these people? Where they going to let the dog eat him?

He felt the tears fall at the thought, but mommy gets mad when he cries, she locks him in the closet. The thoughts only made him cry harder.

He didn't know where he was, he hurt, and there were dogs here. He wanted to go home, to his spot on the floor. He would be good, he would clean and be quiet, and mommy would leave him alone and he would be okay.

He sniffled and kept walking down the hall until he heard voices coming from in front of him. He stopped and looked for a place to hide, but there was no place to hide. Maybe he could go the other way.

Carlos turned and headed the other direction, until he heard a bark. He stopped short as the sound got closer, no longer caring about the voices he ran back the way he had been going. But the barking was getting closer, tears started again as he ran.

There was a dog, and dogs eat little boys who don't behave. He hurt, so he must have misbehaved. The dog was going to eat him.

Carlos ran until he ran into something that sent him sprawling onto his back. He let out a cry as he landed, he was already in pain, and the fall just made it worse. He sat there, crying and sniffling trying to get the tears to stop. If momma came in and saw him crying she would get mad, if she was here. But, Carlos did not know where here was.

* * *

The former king stared down at the little white haired boy at his feet. There was no doubt in his mind that this was the boy from the island, and he was crying.

The boy was curled up and shaking. So Adam knelt slowly next to the trembling child, as he was silently wishing he and Belle had searched for the boy together instead of going in different directions. Once he was closer to the child he tried to take stock of the situation. It appeared that the child was not yet aware of his presence, and for the moment he was kind of relieved. At this distance he could see the tensed way the child was holding himself making it clear, the older man that the boy was in some sort of pain. He could also see sweat mingling with the tears, he neared his hand to the boy and felt heat radiating of his tiny form before he even came into contact with skin.

The former king, frowned, this is why he had tried to stay away from magic the repercussions that went along with it held too many variables and side effects. Whether a spell or potion, the heat, the pain, and who knows what else were bi-products of its use. Magic at times was simply too unpredictable. So, now poor little Carlos was suffering because of it.

A quiet whimper brought him out of his thoughts, so the former king looked down and realized his presence had finally been noticed. Sighing inwardly, Adam tried his best to be as unintimidating as possible. So, he smile gently down at the little boy and slowly moved his hand to wipe sweaty bangs away from the child's face. He had to force the smile to stay in place first as the child tensed at his touch, and then as he saw confusion in those big brown eyes as his hand remained gentle.

"Hello there, my name is Adam." He introduced himself purposefully avoiding King Beast in case it was more that Carlos's body that changed.

The boy still looked confused so the former king pressed on.

"Can you tell me your name?"

The little boy seemed to cower the longer Adam's attention was on him, but the former king pressed on.

"Hey, it's okay. I only want to help you. It looks like you're not feeling very well." He gently touched the boy's face and ran a thumb under his eyes to wipe away tears.

"Hey, if you tell me your name maybe I could call someone for you, hmm, maybe your parents…."

"No!" the tenseness that had started to vanish from Carlos's small frame returned with a vengeance as he interrupted, the former king.

"No, please don't call mommy, she'll be mad…..She… sh..."

Adam was stunned into silence as he saw the little boy start to panic, he was far too young to be this afraid of his mother. However, when the little boy started taking in heaving rapid breaths the former king went into action.

"Okay, buddy I promise I will not call your mom." It was an easy promise he had never intended to call the woman in the first place, he had only meant to calm the kid down and that had backfired splendidly.

The tension in Carlos's little body slowly started to relax and the boy nodded.

"Can you tell me your name, I can't keep calling you buddy all the time." He really needed the kid to tell him, it was clear to the former king that the boy was mentally the same age as he now was physically. If they were too familiar with the kid it would likely scare him and that was the last thing he wanted.

"Carlos." It was almost too quiet for the former King to hear, but he caught it none the less.

"Nice to meet you Carlos. How old are you, buddy?" The little boy was scooting closer to the former king who at some point had sat down next to the little boy.

The little boy timidly held up three fingers. The former king smiled at the gesture as he recalled his own son doing the same when he was feeling shy.

"Wow, three whole years old, you are such a big boy" The former king's smile only widened as the boy preened shyly at the praise.

Before he could ask anything else a bark sounded from the other side of the hall. Recognizing Dude the former king stood to greet whoever the dog was with. However, he looked down when he felt a small hand tug at his pant leg. Dude barked again and Carlos let a small cry.

Dude rounded the corner and froze, but the former king could see his tail wagging happily as he spotted the smaller version of the boy he had grown close to. The little boy froze as well, but terror was the only emotion that could be seen on his face.

As Dude started to step toward Carlos the little looked up at the former king eyes pleading and little hand hesitantly making grabby motion, universal toddler for pick me up. The former king did not hesitate to comply.

Carlos clung to the former king's neck as he stared warily down at Dude, who was now whining as he walked around the kings legs.

The former king looked up to see his son rounding the corner. He smiled as he saw the relieved look in his son's eyes.

"Carlos." The little boy looked up away from the Dude when he heard the former king address him.

"This is my son, Ben." The little boy looked over to Ben only to hide his face in the former king's shoulder.

The former king then waved his son over.

"Ben, this is my little buddy, Carlos." The former king watched with amusement as the little boy shyly peeked up from where he had chosen to hide.

"Hey, Carlos. My friends and I have been looking for you."

The former king felt the little boy tense up and Ben saw the fear in those big brown eyes.

"You see my friend, Jay found you earlier. You looked like you weren't feeling to well, so he brought you to me so we could get you some help." Ben continued hoping to put the little boy at ease. It worked to an extent because fear seemed to leave his eyes as he realized that they, probably, weren't going to hurt him.

"It looks like you still don't feel well, can you tell us what's wrong, buddy. It would make it easier to help if we knew how you felt."

The former king tried to coax words from the little boy. For a moment he figured the boy would remain silent, but he looked down and saw the boy chewing his bottom lip thoughtfully. He looked up at Ben, and both remained patiently silent.

" 'm really warm." Was the answer they received.

The former king nodded he could feel that much for himself.

"Anything else" Ben prompted, and the former king saw him typing on his phone, he assumed letting the others know what was going on.

"Hurt." This answer was a little teary.

The former King looked once again to the boy and saw a grimace on his face, tears were starting to flow steadily from Carlos's eyes.

"Where does it hurt, buddy?" He asked urgently.

The little boy sniffled "Everywhere." He then answered with a sob.

The sobs were heartbreaking, but what bothered the former king was the fact that the little boy did not seek out comfort. Sure his head was on his shoulder, but instead of clutching the front of Adam's shirt and arms hugging around his neck, the little boy was clutching at the front of the oversized shirt that was threating to fall off his own shoulders. Sure Carlos did not know him, but Carlos was three and generally, at least in his experience, they sought out comfort from whoever was available.

Carlos was clearly hurting and the former King wanted to show him that it was ok to reach out, so he brought the boy closer and gently rubbed soothing circles onto his back. After a few moments, he could feel hands tentatively curl into the front of his shirt.

With a small smile the former king started to rock the boy in his arms, and was rewarded by the boy's sobs stopping and eventually the feeling of deep even breaths against his neck.

"He went to sleep." He whispered to his son.

"Where should I tell the others to meet us?"

"The nurse's office, he is in pain we need to figure out what's going on."

It bothered the former king to see Carlos in so much pain, physical and otherwise. This type of situation was exactly why he avoided magic.

* * *

 ** _AN: Well that is the end of chapter 2 of this story arc, chapter 3 should be up next week._**

 ** _Feel free to message me a request if you would like, and hey reviews are cool if you feel like leaving them, I love hearing from you guys!_**

 **Oh! Before I forget, this story is being translated into Spanish. The wonderful** ** _valeoreo10 from wattpad contacted me and asked for permission to do so. So you guys can go check it out there, and here once it is posted._**

 ** _So if you guys want check it out now go to_** ** _La tinta de una Flor, valeoreo10 on wattpad the story is "Blanco y Negro: el cuidado y mantenimiento de Carlos De Vil", obviously, lol. The first chapter is up! Updates on Saturday._**

 ** _As soon as the translated version is on here I'll let you guys know._**

 ** _Anyway, until next chapter_**

 ** _~ Light's Lady_**


	11. Hush little baby: Chapter 3

**AN: Hello I am back! Chapter three of Hush little baby is here.**

 **Anywho, Thank you all for the views, favs, and follows.**

 **And 21 one reviews until this story has 101 reviews! Getting so close.**

 **The reviews are awesome, guys I love hearing from you all.**

 **Valeoreo10: Here is an update!**

 **Invited: Thanks and look update**

 **Invitado: Updated, lol**

 **Jewel Princess1992: That's what I was going for, on both counts**

 **Sand-wolf579: I agree, I think he needed to be in the movie more.**

 **squishy the human: Thank you!**

 **LoveShipper: He should brace himself for cuddles and love.**

 **biankies: He is smart, but he is still 3. I hope I portray the right combo of the two. Happy you enjoyed.**

 **Melancholy's Sunshine: Well I think at least one of your questions gets answered in this chapter. Glad you enjoyed it and I offer an update.**

 **So let's get this chapter started!**

 **Disclaimer: Still not mine.**

* * *

Ben walked next to his dad as they made their way to the nurse's office. His concern mirrored on his father's face. Concern for the little boy resting fitfully in the former king's arms.

The walk to the nurse's office only took a couple of minutes but he heard his father whisper comforting words to the boy the whole way. The child was clearly uncomfortable.

Even more concerning was the fact the boy not only looked three, but acted it as well. This fact would devastate the other three from the island. They were a crew before they left the island, and had grown so much closer since arriving at the school. Even then, from what he had managed to gather from them, they had only all been together a couple of months before arriving here. Jay and Mal had been a duo for years, and they would occasionally interact with Carlos, but Evie had been "castle" schooled up until the beginning of this school year. It was then that the four had grown close.

Carlos would not know any of that.

With that disheartening thought in mind, Ben opened the door to the nurse's office for his dad to step through with little Carlos securely held in his arms.

The nurse stepped out the moment she heard the door open. She was a pleasant older woman, with soft curls that fell around a kind face and a smile that immediately put you at ease. The second she saw the child in the former king's arms she went to work.

She gently took the child from the former king and laid him on the bed. Ben watched her flit around the room and gather what she needed. She put a thermometer in the child's mouth as she pushed bangs away from his sweaty forehead. It was then that Ben saw a frown form on her face. She looked closer at the child, and Ben saw the exact moment recognition formed in her eyes. After all she had been the nurse on duty when Chad had brought Carlos in from the storm.

"Carlos!?" Ben could only nod when she looked back at him.

"I think this might be beyond me." The thermometer went off and when she looked at the number she winced.

"Magic or not a fever is a fever, and this one is way too high. He looks about two…"

"Three." Ben looked at his father when he interrupted.

"He told me he was three." The nurse did not look happy and it was then that Ben realized just how small the boy was.

With a swift move the nurse removed the oversized shirt from Carlos and lay it across the boys lap. Ben could not stop the gasp that left his mouth as he saw the state of the boy on the table. The boy was obviously malnourished. Ribs could clearly be seen on a tiny body that should still have the pudge of baby fat.

His father let out a growl that startled both Ben and the nurse. They both looked up at the former king who was now standing next to little Carlos. His father gently picked up one of Carlos's thin arms and a low growl sounded again. Ben leaned over his father's shoulder and saw hand shaped bruise that wrapped completely around the little boy's arm.

It was too small to belong to any of the three who had been near the boy, it was also distinctly feminine in shape, before Ben could ponder too much on the implications of this find the boy groaned and the nurse jumped into action.

"As I was saying as young as Carlos is, a sudden rise in his temperature could cause him to go into a seizure." She quickly moved the King and his father to the side, and started to run a cool cloth over the tiny body.

It was then that Ben's mother entered the room with Jay and Evie close behind her.

"Is he okay?" Ben could see the worry plainly on Evie's face. The proof of how much she cared about the little boy sleeping fitfully on the bed was evident in her lack of makeup and her hair that was still pulled back so she could sleep.

Ben saw Jay immediately take guard at the door effectively putting himself between the little boy and anything that might seek to hurt him. How could anyone think negatively about them, they cared more deeply about each other than many of the "good" kids Ben had grown up with.

He watched his mother take stock of the situation and grab another towel from the bowl of water, the nurse must have brought it in at some point, and started to wipe the boy down as well.

"We'll have to wait on Fairy Godmother to find out what caused this to happen." Ben explained, Evie watched what was going on at the table intently.

"All we can do right now is try to counter the side effects that whatever this is caused." Ben gestured to the table before continuing.

"He has a fever, it can be really dangerous for him at this age, so they are trying to get it down." He finished. Evie contemplated the answer before speaking again.

"Are there any other symptoms?"

"All we know for sure right now is that he has the high fever, and is in a lot of pain." Ben sighed in frustration at his inability to help.

"Pain? Hmm…. That makes sense this is a full body shift of some kind." Fairy Godmother and Doug were now entering the room. Fairy Godmother looked concerned as she stepped into the room.

"What caused this a spell or potion?" She asked once she was next to the boy

"A potion" Ben turned back to the door. Mal was there, breathing slightly heavy, she must have ran here from the boy's dorm.

"Trust me, no spell was cast in that room." Mal looked unhappy.

"The chocolates were gone, Jay. The room was ransacked. Whoever did this got rid of the evidence." Mal huffed as she made her way over to Carlos.

Ben watched emotions war in her eyes. Anger, sadness, concern, and guilt.

"I am so sorry I couldn't find it Carlos." Mal placed a gentle hand on his forehead.

"Can't you fix this?" Jay had directed his question toward Fairy Godmother.

"Maybe, but I need to know how old he is." She turned to look at Ben.

Ben did not want to be the one to crush them, and he could not help but squirm at the three sets of VK eyes that were staring intently in his direction.

"Three." It was his father who answered the question again, Ben looked up gratefully, but saw that his father was barely paying attention to them, most of his focus was on Carlos, and Ben smiled slightly despite the situation.

"He won't know us will he?" Mal was quiet, but Ben could see she had expected this.

"Well, let's see if I can fix this before that becomes an issue." Fairy Godmother motioned for everyone to step aside.

Ben Pulled Mal into his arms and held her close. He saw Doug, do the same with Evie. Jay had knelt down to pick up Dude, Ben had forgotten about the dog following them, and was now leaned against the wall watching what was happening very closely.

Fairy Godmother pulled out her wand and took a deep breath

 _The trouble caused by potions dose, I command to leave our Carlos. Return him to his normal state, return him now, do not make us wait._

 _Bipity bopity boo….._

* * *

Somewhere on campus someone walked to their dorm room casually tossing a wrapped box between hands, while they were quietly mumbling an old lullaby.

 _Rock a bye baby in the tree top. When the wind blows the cradle will rock. When the bough breaks the cradle will fall and down will come baby cradle and all._

"Will anyone catch you De Vil or is baby going to fall."

* * *

 ** _AN: Aaaand end. Be warned this is the calm before the storm. I know it's short, but this was the best place to stop for this chapter. So yeah, brace yourselves because everything is fixing to come to a head._**

 ** _See you guys next chapter, lol_**

 ** _~ Light's Lady_**


	12. Hush little baby: Chapter 4

**AN: Hi! I'm back. Sorry this took so long guys. I had to find a place to stop, lol and life guys, life... This chapter was actually going to cover a lot more, but I felt like it was just way too many feels for one chapter so I found a place to stop and here it is.**

 **Thanks for the views, favs, and follows!**

 **The reviews make my day, everyone. And I have 88 of them, sooo close to 101!**

 **Coolgirl: Bam, updated! Thank you!**

 **squishy the human: Will do! I love getting requests, once I finish the Hush little baby arc I'll work on something.**

 **Sun: You make me blush, lol. Seriously though, I am glad you enjoy my style, it means a lot. I am so sorry I made you wait so long.**

 **invited: Thank you, and I updated, sorry it took so long.**

 **biankies: Glad to hear that I got it right. I did not mean to take so long, but life… I am sure you all know how it is.**

 **Valeoreo10: Thank you, I try. Though sometimes my updates are not as regular as I would like, lol. Plot… this story arc is a small part of a bigger project that I am debating on posting, but we'll see.**

 **Valeoreo10: Glad you enjoyed it, lol. Sorry it took so long to update.**

 **Melancholy's Sunshine: Chaos! I love it. I would not want to be the one to mess with this group, but are things always what they seem to be? Glad you enjoyed it, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

 **Anyway, on to the story!**

 **Disclaimer: Not mine.**

* * *

Everyone waited anxiously as a light blue mist covered the boy on the table. Then there was a sigh of relief as the mist seemed to settle on the tiny body. That was a good sign, settling meant that the magic was absorbing, and that meant Carlos would return to normal before this got anymore chaotic.

Just as they started to relax, the magic was violently rejected. The blue mist pushed back and Fairy Godmother was thrown back against the wall as her own magic was thrown back at her and everyone else had to brace against the wind that rushed through the room.

Then everything was still… until it wasn't.

All eyes were on Carlos when it started. First he tensed up and brown eyes shot open, and then tremors could be seen rocking his tiny body.

The nurse moved first. She had the small boy off of the table and on the floor before the full body twitching started.

Her body blocked most of him from view, but not completely. So the others could see the moment brown eyes rolled back and vomiting started.

The chaotic movement only lasted a couple of moments and then he was still.

Too still.

"He's not breathing." The quiet words left the queen's mouth as the nurse moved into action.

These next seconds would be forever ingrained in the minds of everyone there.

The stillness.

The silence.

The blessed gasp of life returning.

The sound of quiet crying that signaled awareness had returned.

Tiny hands reaching out.

The former King's quick movements to the little boy.

When the former king picked up Carlos the spell that seemed to have everyone rooted in place, broke.

Movement and sound found its way back to the room.

"It's alright buddy. You're okay… you're fine." Adam consoled he boy as he rocked him back and forth.

"Belle, the bag."

The queen nodded and walked to the door where she had dropped the bag when she entered the room. Then the two walked to the bathroom to change Carlos.

All heads turned toward the former king and queen as they took they little boy out of the room.

* * *

"Okay? Is that supposed to be glowing?"

Mal turned to look at Jay.

"What?" she asked.

"His barf." Jay's nose was wrinkled in disgust.

Mal looked down to where the boy had been moments ago and indeed the floor was now covered in glowing vomit and other things she really did not want to think about, poor Carlos would be mortified if he were his proper age. Gross, but at least they had a sample to work with.

Evie must have the same idea because she was now kneeling down with a beaker in hand and scooping up some. So gross.

"We'll take that to the chemistry lab and see if we can figure this out." Fairy Godmother was dusting herself off and motioned for Mal and Evie to follow her as she walked out of the room.

"I'm going to go see if I can find a potions book in the library."

Mal nodded to Doug as he walked past her. Before she left she turned to look at Jay and Ben.

"You two keep him safe." Both boys nodded

"I don't think it's a good idea for him to stay on campus, see if you can get your parents to take him to your place."

"I don't think that'll be a problem."

"Good." Mal started to go, but paused she turned to glance at the door between her and Carlos.

"You probably should not leave him alone with your mom."

Ben frowned at Mal.

"It's just that Carlos… it would be better if either you, Jay, or even your dad were with him if he has to be around her or any girl around that age really."

Understanding flashed in both their eyes, and it was then they realized exactly why Mal and Evie were purposefully avoiding getting to close to Carlos.

"Will do." Jay answered for the two of them

Mal then left. She and Evie might not be able to comfort Carlos, but they could sure as heck try to fix the problem.

* * *

Belle watched as Carlos clung to her husband, the poor little boy looked so dazed and confused. With a sigh she made her way to the sink and wet a wash cloth to wipe the little boy down, he was covered in sweat and… other things.

The moment she touched him, Carlos whimpered and tried to shift away from her. Assuming he simply did not like the wash cloth she continued to clean him, but he grew increasingly distressed the longer she was touching him. She realized the problem, immediately stopped and stepped away.

Adam seemed to understand and gestured for the rag. She watched as he gently dislodged tiny hands from his shirt.

Carlos had whined when contact had been removed, but made no attempts to get her husband to pick him back up once he had been sat on the edge of the sink. Adam then sat about gently cleaning the little boy off.

"Belle, could you hand me the clothes we brought." She nodded and reached in the bag and pulled them out.

She could not help but notice the wary gaze of the toddler as she neared him. He tensed again when she got too close. She had to force a gentle smile on her face as she pretended not to notice.

Her husband then quickly dressed the little boy, whose eyes were starting to droop in exhaustion. The clothes were disturbingly big and baggy on Carlos. It seemed like her husband had noticed as well, he shook his head and looked at her.

"Ben was almost two when he wore this?"

She could only nod. He sighed again before turning his attention back to Carlos. He reached out when the boy started to sway in his spot, when his hand landed on the little boy's shoulder, Carlos's eyes opened.

"Hey buddy, we've got to go."

Carlos blinked heavily as he stared back at Adam, and Belle's heart felt like it would shatter when the boy gave a resigned sigh and moved away from her husband's hand so the older man could leave and not have to support the small body that was trembling from exhaustion.

"Do you want to come with us?" Adam asked.

Big brown eyes blinked in confusion. Belle could not determine if it was the fact that he was being given a choice or that they wanted him to come with him. After a few moments of silent debate little hands hesitantly reached out for her husband. It was after permission had been given that her husband then reached down to pick the little boy up.

Carlos relaxed after a few seconds of not being rejected. However Belle noted that he watched her husband's face the entire time he went to lay his head on his shoulder. When the little boy received no response, other than an encouraging smile, eyes that had been steadily getting heavier finally closed and he went limp as sleep claimed him again.

Adam then took her hand and the two walked out of the bathroom.

* * *

Jay looked up from his spot at the door when the adults walked back into the room. He had been watching the nurse and Ben clean the mess that Carlos had left, but the moment that the former King and Queen walked back into the room all his attention was focused on the little boy sleeping peacefully on the former king's shoulder.

"How's he doing?" when he spoke Ben and the nurse stopped what they were doing and the attention was also focused on Carlos.

"I think his fever might have broken."

When the former king said that the nurse quickly stood and made her way over to the little boy. She had a thermometer in his ear the moment she reached Carlos. Jay let out a relieved sigh when the only response Carlos gave was wrinkle his nose in annoyance and whine a little before relaxing once again.

Jay watched the nurse's face for any sign of concern as she read the number that popped up. She only smiled in relief and Jay took that as a good sign.

"Back to normal."

"Is there any reason he should need to stay here?"

The adults in the room attention quickly diverted to the former thief. Jay looked steadily at everyone in the room, before cutting his eyes to Ben.

"Mal wants him off campus, and I agree with her. We still don't know who did this, so it would be safer for him away from here." Ben explained as Jay again found himself reading the emotions of the people around him.

The queen looked sad and he could see that she purposefully avoiding touching Carlos. Though he could also see that all she wanted was to be the one holding his little buddy close right now. This was probably torturing her, because Jay knew how close Carlos and Belle had grown. She seemed to enjoy mothering the boy… well she liked to mother all four of him. Somehow he and Carlos had become known as her boys lumped right in with Ben when they were together. Jay found that he did not mind it, but Carlos thrived on the positive attention from her.

Ben, well he just fit with them. He had accepted them the moment they stepped off of the island, and often went out of his way to make sure the four of them were still settling. Right now though he was throwing worried glance at the sleeping toddler. Jay knew Ben would do whatever it took to make sure his little buddy was safe.

The nurse, she was the one who took care of Carlos after the storm and she clearly had a soft spot for the boy, but really he found that very few people in Auradon could not help but like Carlos. He was a good kid, always willing to do what he could to help, and he was just well… kind, there really was no other way to describe him. How these qualities had survived the island and Cruella was beyond Jay. Carlos had never fit on the island, Jay had always seen that, despite the façade that Carlos was very good at keeping up, it was why Jay had looked out for him.

Then there was King Beast. Jay could not say that he knew the man very well. He could be intimidating. Even now as he held Carlos close, Jay was sure he would not want to be the one to threaten the sleeping child, but there was a gentleness there that had Jay perfectly fine with allowing him to take charge of the toddler.

"That would probably be for the best." Said man interrupted his train of thought.

"I assume you will be accompanying us, Jay." The queen smiled in his direction.

Jay nodded. Where else would he be, someone had to look out for Carlos.

Once the nurse had given the okay the former King had led the group to the cars and headed back to the castle before the campus became aware of the situation.

* * *

 ** _AN: So next chapter Carlos wakes up in the castle, how will he handle the change in scenery? Things are certainly different than what he is used to._**

 ** _So things are going to be interesting next chapter._**

 ** _I am thinking maybe two more chapters and this arc will be done…_**

 ** _This story arc is actually the beginning to a larger project called "Captive Hearts", but I don't know if I'll post anything other than this arc, I was thinking about posting a teaser and seeing if anyone would like to read the whole story, but I don't know. What do you guys think, would you like to see a teaser chapter for "Captive Hearts"?_**

 ** _Let me know!_**

 ** _Feel free to leave a review or message me. I would love to hear from you!_**

 ** _~Light's Lady_**


	13. Hush little baby End

**AN: Hey everyone, sorry about the long wait. These last few months have been rough for me. Two deaths in the family, my great aunt, and my great grandmother. We just moved again and I have a job now, have to pay back student loans and all that stuff.**

 **But this chapter is over 4,000 words.**

 **And I see that I have 102 reviews! The 101** **st** **reviewer was Super Starr 0220. They have requested to write a chapter with me so this is what they will get. I am kind of excited.**

 **Thank you everyone who has followed, faved, viewed, and reviewed. You guys are all awesome.**

 **Review Time!**

 **Guest: I might just do that, but it is more of an alternate ending to the story now, lol.**

 **Valeoreo10: I am sorry it took so long to update.**

 **Book girl fan: glad you enjoyed it**

 **Super Starr 0220: Thank you for all of the reviews, lol! And since you were the 101st reviewer if writing a chapter with me is what you would like to do than I am all for it.**

 **biankies: thanks for understanding, and I am happy you enjoyed the story!**

 **Melancholy's Sunshine: I thought about going as Cruella this year myself, but I ended up staying home and watching Ghost Busters in my pjs. I am glad you enjoyed the story. I am thinking about doing an alternate version of Hush little baby and exploring his reactions with others, but I have not decided yet.**

 **On with the last chapter of Hush Little Baby!**

 **Disclaimer: Descendants is not mine**

* * *

Adam looked down at Carlos as they drove. The little boy was currently clinging to the front of his shirt. He could not bring himself to set the little boy down, not now that he seemed to accept the comfort that had been offered.

The former king looked up and quickly meet eyes with Jay. The former thief appeared to be relaxed, but there was no missing the way he watched anyone who got too close to Carlos. Adam was surprised and honored that Jay and the girls had allowed him to take care of the toddler.

Of course the former king also thought that it might have something to do with the fact that the three kids felt like might do something wrong. Like… they did not know if they could care for him properly. Even so the three of them were doing what they could for their friend.

Evie and Mal would no doubt be working endlessly to try and reverse what had been done. And Jay… well as the former thief smirked at him the former king could not help but return the smile… Carlos would definitely have a very fierce protector.*

As they all made their way into the castle Belle quickly ushered Ben and Jay to their respective rooms. Adam had offered Carlos to Jay, because form some reason even though the castle had more rooms than the couple knew what to do with the boys had chosen to share a room. Instead of taking Carlos as Belle had expected Jay to do the boy shook his head.

"Nah, he's attached to you. Until he is at least properly introduced to me it would probably be best for him to stay with you."

Belle had understood the logic in his decision, and she smiled as she saw him glance back at the boy before he made his way to his room.

"I am going to my office, why don't you go get a couple hours of sleep. Tomorrow could very well be a hectic day."

Belle looked back to her husband and nodded. Before she left she walked over to the sleeping boy and placed a kiss on his forehead. She then kissed her husband, then turned to go to bed. As the former king turned to settle in his study for the night.

* * *

The first thing that Carlos became aware of was the noise of someone walking around the room he was in. The second and most important thing, well at least to him, was the fact that there was someone right next him. No, someone was holding him. Panic squeezed his chest as he registered the arms around his back. Eyes flew open as a gasp flew past his lips.

The only thing he saw when he opened his eyes was black. He pushed against the body holding him, the arms restraining him dropped away, and Carlos sat up straight. Black suddenly changed to blue and he realized that he had been asleep against someone's chest. He quickly looked up and meet the eyes of the man…, Adam, that he had meet earlier, and he looked very concerned.

Adam had been so nice to him, and the sad look on his face made Carlos feel… icky? Almost like when mommy gave him that look right before he got in trouble, but different. Mommy's look scared him, but Adams look made him… sad. Because Adam looked sad, and Adam was too nice to be sad. Carlos did not want to be the reason Adam was sad. He wanted Adam to smile, because Adam deserved to smile.

Adam was still watching Carlos with that sad look, and Carlos thought desperately for a way to make it go away. But how could… it was then that he thought about earlier, Adams face when Carlos had told him his name.

But that couldn't be right, because mommy got mad when he talked. Then again Adam was not his mommy. He did not want to get punished, but if he could not make Adam smile then, well…. Carlos felt he deserved to be punished. So Carlos took a breath and gathered his courage.

"Hi…" Carlos said quietly as he braced himself and watched Adam's face.

No hitting, but no… wait was that, yes, the corner of his lip twitched upward. Success! Well, sort of. So, talking made him happy? Grownups were weird, but if talking was what Adam wanted, well then Carlos could do that.

In Carlos' limited experience there were three rules to follow when it came to dealing with adults, and that was to do what they wanted, stay out of the way, and be quiet.

Rule one was simple and worked with all adults, but Carlos was beginning to think the other two were not going to work with this adult. He would just have to figure out the other two rules as he went. Well, he had to figure out one rule.

Rule one was always do what grownups wanted, so that meant rule two would be to talk. Except now that he was supposed to talk he did not know what say…

A hand on his shoulder made Carlos Jump he looked up and Adam was smiling down at him, but Carlos hadn't talked, hadn't done anything to earn the smile. Why did grownups have be so confusing,

"What are you thinking so hard about?"

Carlos sat for a moment not really sure how to tell him, and shrugged. Then froze, he was supposed to talk. It was his first new rule and he had already broken it.

"I understand, I have those moments myself."

Carlos looked up in confusion. Adam liked it when he talked, but did not get mad when he didn't. Carlos did not understand adults at all.

"Breakfast is ready, sir."

Carlos jumped at the sound of the new voice in the room and clutched Adam's shirt. Adam patted his back gently and chuckled lightly.

"Thank you Chip."

Carlos turned toward the other person in the room and saw another man. He looked younger than Adam, he had blond hair, and a nice smile.

Chip stood next to a table that sat in front of a couch. The table was full of all kinds of food. Now that Carlos could see the food he realized how hungry he was. If Chip was standing over there then that must be where Carlos was supposed to eat. Suddenly Carlos wasn't so hungry anymore. He was not sure he wanted to be that far away from Adam. So far the man had taken care of him and not hurt him. So far Adam was safe.

"Would you like to eat at your desk?"

Carlos looked at Chip. His question had been directed to Adam but he was smiling at Carlos, which the little boy timidly returned.

"Yes, that'll be fine." Adam answered.

Next thing Carlos knew he was being lifted and turned to face the desk. Then there was food sitting in front of him. Food that smelled so good it made his tummy grumble and mouth water. There were so many choices he did not know where to start.

"I would suggest starting with the pancakes."

Carlos turned his head and found himself eye level with Chip. The younger man was knelt down to his level instead of towering over the little boy. He smiled for some reason that was beyond Carlos. Where ever he was the people sure did smile a lot.

"Pancakes?"

The young man's smile seemed to widen for a moment, before his look turned serious. Carlos was torn between curiosity and anxiety at his sudden change in expression.

Chip looked up at Adam.

"He doesn't know what pancakes are. How could you let that happen?"

Carlos frowned, it was not Adam's fault he did not know what a pancake was. He was about to speak in the man's defense when Adam sighed.

"You are correct I should have never allowed that to happen, but we can remedy the problem right now. What kind do we have today?"

Carlos looked up and saw that Adam once again had a sad look on his face, but there was something else, he looked like he had that icky feeling Carlos had earlier… like he had done something and now he felt bad about it. But, that did not make sense. Adam was too nice to have done something bad.

"Chocolate Chip"

Carlos turned his attention back to Chip and he looked like he had the icky feeling to.

"Carlos, I think you'll like them." Adam said from behind him.

A plate of bread that had brown spots on it was brought closer to him. Carlos looked at the bread suspiciously. He usually tried to avoid food with spots, the last time his food had spots he got sick. But this spotty food smelled really good. So far they had been nice and nice people would not try to make him sick.

At least that was what he hoped.

Carlos brought the fork to his mouth, carefully took a bite and sat in shock. It was wonderful, he had no idea that food could taste that good. It was warm, and sweet and…. he wanted more. He was then shoveling food into his mouth.

He heard Adam chuckle behind him, but could not be bothered to see why. He was munching happily at his food until he noticed that Adam was not eating, but sitting in the chair reading.

Carlos could appreciate wanting to read, learning was the best, but a person should eat when there was food. Who knew when the opportunity to eat something so yummy would happen again?

So Carlos put his fork down and looked at all the different food.

* * *

Adam was looking into the records of food distribution to the island while he let Carlos eat. He was a little more than disturbed to find that what was sent was no more than the leftovers of the people of Auradon.

He was brought from his thoughts when he felt Carlos turn in his lap. When he looked down he saw that the little boy was tentatively holding out a warm biscuit.

"Here. Its yummy I checked."

Adam glanced at the little boy's plate and there was indeed a half-eaten biscuit sitting on it. He smiled sadly at the thought that the boy made sure to food was good before he offered it.

"Thank you Carlos." Adam took the offered food a noted the happy look on the white haired boy's face before he turned back around in his lap and started eating again.

Adam was munching on his biscuit when Ben entered the room. He had to resist the urge to pull the little boy close to him. He had a similar problem when Ben had been this age. He had a hard time letting anyone else take his son from him and it looked like it was going to be the same with Carlos.

The little boy in question looked up when Ben entered the room, he must have remembered him because he smiled and offered a biscuit to the young king as well.

Without missing a beat Ben walked across the room and took the offered food and took a big bite.

"Thanks buddy." Ben knelt down much like Chip had earlier before he continued talking.

"So I was thinking that maybe you could spend some time with me and my friend for a little bit."

Adam could feel the little boy tense a little at the mention of another person and leaving Adam's side. It was clear to everyone that the former king was the one the little boy had attached to.

"My dad has to have a meeting today, it will be very boring and I thought we could have some fun together until he got back."

Adam could feel himself tense as he waited for the child's reaction.

"He'll come back?" Carlos asked quietly.

"Of course I'll be back buddy." Adam was quick to assure the little boy.

"Okay." Carlos reached out for Ben and Adam could not help the smile that found its way to his face at the way his son's face lit up with Carlos's action.

Though Adam had to force himself not to bring attention to the fact that the little boy had a biscuit clutched in his tiny hands. No doubt because the little boy was not sure if he would be feed again.

It was then that Jay came into the room.

* * *

Jay was nervous as he made his way to the former King's office. He had been informed this morning that he and Ben would have Carlos for a few hours this afternoon while the former king and queen set up a meeting with the other leaders of Auradon.

It had been made clear last night that Carlos had no idea who he was. What if his little buddy did not like him, or worse what if he was afraid of him? Jay would probably end up sulking in his room, like poor Dude was doing at the moment. The dog refused to leave Carlos's bed this morning. Jay was not sure how Dude had even managed to get to the Castle, but when he woke up this morning there he was.

Jay stood at the door to the office and braced himself for what ever happened. He would do what was best for Carlos, even if that meant keeping an eye on the little boy out of sight. He really hoped it would not come to that.

With that thought in mind he walked into the room.

He paused when he stepped into the room. Carlos was currently in Ben's arms. It was odd seeing the boy in something other than his signature colors, yet there Carlos was in yellow and blue, looking like a little prince.

"Hey, Jay." Jay looked up to see Ben motioning him over.

Well here it was no turning back. Jay quickly walked over.

"Do you remember Jay from yesterday?" Jay watched Carlos study him.

"He was at the door." Jay winced, yeah he would remember that.

"I got out." Jay watched the slight smirk form on the toddlers face.

Yep, Carlos was definitely an isle kid through and through.

"Yeah, you were pretty quick." Jay admitted with a chuckle.

It would seem that Jay had passed some kind of test because the next thing he knew he was being offered a biscuit.

"Want one?" Carlos asked.

Jay smiled despite the situation. He doubted that the royals in the room knew what offering food meant for Carlos. Facts were food was not always easy to come by. When you found it you held onto it. If you offered to share it was because you cared or trusted that person as much as one could on the island.

Basically, Carlos had just declared Jay a friend.

"Yeah, thanks." Jay made sure Carlos saw him eat it. That was also a sign of trust.

"Well I better be off. I'll see you later Carlos."

Jay nodded in approval to the former king. It was a good idea to let Carlos know that. So the little boy did not think he was being abandoned, Carlos would probably reason that he deserved it or it was some type of punishment.

Chip came in as the former king stepped out. He had some boxes with him. Once he sat them down Ben knelt next to them with Carlos in his lap.

Jay watched the little boy eye the boxes in curiosity, but make no move to touch them. Well, that was not acceptable.

"Alright let's opens these up and see what we got." Jay said as he pushed one box toward Carlos and opened one himself.

"Wow." Was all he could say when he saw all the toys in the boxes.

When Jay looked up he saw a look of astonishment on little Carlos's face. Little hands moved hesitantly toward the box only to pull back quickly. Jay watched as Ben acted as if he had not noticed Carlos's reaction and reach into the box and pick up whatever it was that little boy had been after, and Jay was not at all surprised with what Ben pulled out.

"Puzzle anyone."

Ben sat Carlos on the floor and the three of them went to work. It was not a little kids puzzle, but something with a lot of pieces and bright colors that captured Carlos's complete attention.

* * *

They had been working on the puzzle for about an hour when Carlos started to slow down. Ben initially thought the little boy was getting tired, but when he looked up to check he saw pain on the little boys face. Carlos was rubbing at his arm and Ben felt sick as he watched a bruise form there.

Ben looked up at Jay to make sure he was not simply imagining things and the look on the former thief's face told him that he was not.

A gasp from Carlos quickly brought his attention back to the little boy. He was hunched over his arm now.

"Carlos?" Ben called out to the little boy.

When Carlos looked up to see what Ben wanted all Ben could see was confusion and pain on his little face. Sweat was beaded on his forehead and as he went to say something his whole body suddenly jolted forward as he curled in himself with a scream that would haunt the young King's nightmares for the next few days to come.

Ben and Jay were quickly at the little boy's side, what Ben saw threatened to make him sick.

After they had managed to get Carlos to sit up straight and gently pry his arm away from him, they saw that it was bent at an unnatural angle.

What kind of potion was this? His arm had just snapped in front of them.

The little boy started gasping and writhing in pain, and it took the sound of another snap for the two older boys to figure out what was happening.

Ben watched as Jay reached forward with shaking hands. The former thief gently pulled the collar of Carlos shirt to the side, and Ben was shocked to see that the little boys shoulder was very obviously dislocated, and Ben was almost certain that the snap they had heard meant that the little boy's collar bone had broken to some extent.

Ben watched as fear quickly to hold of Jay's face. He quickly jumped up and pulled out his cell phone.

"Mal, we have a problem."

Jay paused so Ben assumed Mal was talking.

"Mal, stop for a minute and listen to me. We have old injuries appearing over here."

Jay rolled his eyes at whatever Mal had said.

"How about the time he said he actually thought she would kill him, does that count as serious enough?"

Ben felt terror crawl down his spine. The little boy was crying and trembling.

"Circumstances are different now, it's all happening at once, for him right now there is no reason to be in so much pain."

Jay paused again and turned white.

"No, not yet. I forgot about that part. Maybe if we keep him still….. You're probably right."

Ben watched Jay pace as he listened to Mal. He suddenly stopped and there was a look in his eyes that made Ben shudder.

"Do you need my help?" Jay looked absolutely deadly at the moment.

"Ben." The tiny voice below him brought his attention away from Jay.

"Yeah, buddy?"

"Was I bad? I hurt… I'm… sorry if…"

"Hey you did nothing wrong, we are going to try and make it stop." Ben gently stroked white hair away from his face, frankly he was scared to do anything else in case he accidently caused the little boy more pain.

"Evie found whoever did this with her mirror. Mal and Fairy Godmother are going after them now." Jay's voice made Ben jump.

"That's good." Ben said.

"Whoever did this better hope they can fix this before…" Jay trailed off.

"How bad did this get?" Ben finally asked after a few minutes.

"Cruella broke two of his ribs, one punctured a lung. He told me he remembered not being able to breathe, I think Jasper took him to Yen Sid or something. It was a close call I would rather not have him re-live."

It was then that his father strode into the room with the castle doctors.

"Evie sent me a message, she told me what to be prepared for." The former king then knelt next to Carlos.

Ben looked up to see his mom standing in the door way, she looked worried, and like she wanted to be in the room cuddling Carlos, but did not dare to get any closer.

* * *

It was ten minutes later that the gasping started and the doctors moved Ben and the former king out of the way as they moved Carlos to the castle infirmary. Everyone followed behind the doctors then waited anxiously outside the room as they worked.

Twenty minutes after that, the girls and Doug arrived with Fairy Godmother. Fairy Godmother had something in her hand as she walked straight in the room with Carlos.

It was another hour of waiting before Fairy Godmother walked out of the room.

* * *

Adam looked up as soon as Fairy Godmother walked out of the room.

"How is he?" The former king asked as soon as she stepped out.

"As well as can be expected." She answered sadly.

"What does that mean?" Belle asked from Adams side.

"The injuries did not disappear when he returned to his proper and his body is once again adjusting to a full body change, so add the pain from that and a fever on top of everything." Fairy Godmother explained as she sat down.

"So can someone please explain what happened?" Ben asked

Mal sighed as looked annoyed, but Evie was the one to answer.

"Apparently the daughter of your friend the Beautiful Enchantress thought the new King deserved a lesson, so Carlos had to suffer." Evie rolled her eyes.

"Wait is this the chick who Carlos would not go out with last week?" Jay asked and Mal nodded.

"Wow, the chicks here do not take rejection well." Jay muttered

"The rejection was how she pick her target, but the lesson would have been the same with any of you. The children on the isle of the lost need help, and as the new King it is my job to help." Ben said

"Yes and you have been doing that Ben, this lesson was unnecessary and dangerous, and she better not come anywhere near Carlos again. After all I learned from the best on how to get even. My mom cursed a baby over not getting invited to a party, but this chick hurt Carlos…" Mal's eyes glowed green before she calmed herself.

Ben rubbed her back, and the former king found himself agreeing whole heartedly with her sentiment.

* * *

Carlos woke feeling absolutely awful. Everything hurt and he was absolutely burning up. When he opened his eyes he had no clue where he was, because for a moment he thought he was back at Hell House. He was still confused because the last thing he remembered was sleeping in his dorm room, and he was very obviously not there. This caused him to panic and something next to him started making noise, and when he turned to look something pulled at his chest. He looked down to see a tube there and before he could panic further a face was suddenly in his field of vision.

"Evie?" Carlos winced and the sound of his voice, he sounded awful.

Evie held up a cup and place the straw in his mouth. It was then that he realized how thirsty he was.

"What happened?" He asked after a long drink.

"You turned down the wrong girl." She said quietly.

"So she beat me up?"

"Age reversal potion, turned you three."

And that sentence explained so much, three had been a rough year, from what Carlos could remember. A whine from the floor suddenly caught his attention.

"Hey Dude, what's the matter?"

"Someone missed you." Evie explained as she lifted the dog so he could lick Carlos, before she put him back on the ground.

Carlos yawned and Evie was suddenly tutting at him.

"You should go back to sleep."

Sleep sounded good to Carlos, he knew he would need lots of it. With how he felt he knew it would be a long recovery.

* * *

 ** _AN: And we have reached the end of another story arc! The overall story was 11,774 words long. I hope you enjoyed it._**

 ** _I am thinking of doing an alternate version where Carlos is younger longer, but I can't decide._**

 ** _Anyway, I am not sure what the next arc will be, if anyone has any suggestion or requests let me know. Also feel free to leave a review or pm me. I love to hear from you guys._**

 ** _I hope you all have a Happy Holiday and if I don't post before I hope you all have a wonderful New Year!_**

 ** _~Light's Lady_**


	14. Don't say a word: Chapter 1

**AN: Hi everyone, I'm back. Sorry about the wait. As I have stated many times, life likes to get in the way of my writing. On top of that I could not decide what I wanted to write. I have a few chapters planned, but could not get motivated to write them down. Then I decided I wanted to kind of continue Hush Little Baby, kind of pick up where it left off. I was originally going to skip ahead a month or so, but something about that story line felt like it was missing something.**

 **So I thought maybe I would try to pick up directly where it left off. I thought about it a while and with the words, "Mal woke up happy" this story line was born.**

 **So I see that people are still reading, following, favorite-ing, and reviewing this story despite it taking me forever to update. (I would like to apologize once again for that) I truly appreciate you guys sticking with me. I will try to do better.**

 **Its review time guys, but first do you guys like me replying to you or would you rather I stop and just get to the story, let me know!**

 **Anyway**

 **: Thank you. I hope I don't disappoint you.**

 **Guest: I hope I updated in time to sustain you!**

 **story magic: Thank you! And I offer a way overdue update.**

 **Guest: Like how abused are we talking?**

 **Guest: Thank you!**

 **Book girl fan: I hope I can live up to your confidence in me.**

 **Invited: I can just about guarantee that this will happen.**

 **Boris Yeltsin: You gave me some interesting prompts I'll see what I can do with them.**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Will do!**

 **the trash: Be on the lookout during this story arc there will be some major Ben and Jay protectiveness going on!**

 **biankies: I am right there with you I am super excited for the second movie. I am all about their updates I am subscribed to the Descendants youtube channel, lol. I am planning a story arc that will address the other VKs past. It will be the "What He Knew" story arc. It will be posted at some point hopefully soon. As always I am glad to hear that you enjoyed the story**

* * *

Mal woke up happy, that should have been enough of a warning, but happy was becoming something of a normality, so she thought nothing of it. Carlos was no longer a toddler, Evie said that he had even woken up last night.

She made her way to Carlos' room, hoping she would catch him awake as she made her way to relieve Evie from her post at his side.

Mal was disappointed when she found that he was still asleep when she entered the room. Then noticed that Evie was nowhere to be seen. She heard noise in the bathroom and figured that must be where her friend was. She then made her way over to Carlos.

While he still looked pretty bad, he did look better than he had when she first came to see him last night. Evie had told her that Fairy Godmother had managed to fix his lung and the nurse had popped his shoulder back into place, but his collar bone and arm had been left to heal on their own.

Mal hated that she breathed a sigh of relief, but these injuries would allow them to keep him away from people for a while longer. She was not sure she could handle him getting hurt again. This incident brought up to many memories and feelings. On the island she could do little to keep the youngest in their group safe after his mother had hurt him, he always had to go back or Cruella would only hurt him worse when he did return.

Mal winced at that memory, they had only tried to keep him from home one time. That was a hard lesson learned.

Evie chose that moment to come out of the bathroom. After a few minutes of explaining the schedule they had set up for Carlos, Evie then headed out to get some sleep.

As Evie shut the door Mal noticed that the blue haired girl had left her bag sitting in a chair and quickly followed after her to return it.

* * *

The sound of a door shutting jolted Carlos awake. He opened his eyes and found himself confused by his surroundings. This place was not where he was supposed to be…. it was not one of the places he was supposed to be. He found himself torn between feeling safe and terrified. The conflicting emotions left him feeling disoriented and if he was being completely honest with himself these feelings also left him with a churning nausea in his stomach. As quick as he could get himself out of the bed Carlos tried to make his way to the bathroom. But standing only seemed to confuse him more. He felt too big, but right at the same time. It was all wrong.

Why was he alone? What had he done now?

He moved in whichever direction felt right, and found himself in a bathroom. Carlos then stumbled over to the toilet, he was going to be sick. It was better to do that somewhere he would not have to clean later, he didn't think he had the energy for that. As it he leaned over his perspective began to shift. The toilet going from too big to the right size. But it still felt the same in his hands. He quickly pushed himself away from it, and shut his eyes. Maybe if he couldn't see what was happening it would stop.

It was then that he heard the door open and shut again. Someone else was walking to the door. He couldn't handle whatever was going on with his own body right, he doubted that adding another person to the mix was going to be any help. With that thought in mind he reached over and locked the door, just as someone grabbed the knob. With a shaky sigh he pushed away from the door and leaned against the wall.

"Carlos? You okay in there?"

Mal? No Mal would not talk to him, she was only mean to him. Except when they went to Auradon, then she was nice, and his friend. Auradon? He was in Auradon, he meet THE King Beast and he was nice, like that man he meet when he was little. Adam? Wait… Adam looked a lot like the former King.

What was happening? Where was he? Did his mom get him again? Adam promised he wouldn't get his mom. Ben promised that she would never get to him again… at the coronation… no Ben helped him with a puzzle. Ben was Adam's son. Carlos wished he could call Adam dad. He seemed like he would be a nice one, maybe Belle would be his mom. She wasn't scary like mommy. But they wouldn't want him. They must not because they were gone.

"Carlos!"

The noise startled Carlos Causing him to hit his injured arm against the wall. It hurt and brought tears to his eyes. He curled his body around the injured limb. They must have sent him back. Because that was Mal talking and Mal lived on the island like mommy. Where ever he was before was not the island because he knew everybody on the island, and he did not know Ben and his dad. He did not know Adam before… but he did meet him later… family day… King and Queen… Mal… Island… Mommy was on the island. He didn't want to be on the island.

Carlos let out a quiet sob, he wanted Adam.

* * *

Mal heard Carlos crying and it worried her. Had he hurt himself? How did he even get in there on his own?

No time for questioning the situation. Regardless of how it happened Carlos was in there on his own and he was crying.

She used the spell she had used at the museum to open the locked door.

The door opened and she quickly made her way into the bathroom. Carlos was sitting on the floor curled around his broken arm.

"Carlos?"

She knelt down next to the boy. He seemed completely unaware of her presence. She touched his cheek and lifted his face for a moment his eyes were completely zoned out, and when they did focus his eyes were full of confusion.

They seemed to flicker between fear and recognition. Eventually they settled on fear. Carlos pulled away from her and pressed himself into the corner of the room.

Mal quickly pulled away. She then had to force emotions to the side and examined the situation. She was puzzled by his posture toward her. He had never acted this way on the island. If you acted this way you were easy prey. Carlos was too smart to be anyone's prey. He started school with her and Jay and was younger….

Younger.

"Seriously." The anger in her voice caused Carlos to whimper and try to press himself further into the wall.

Mal was at a loss. She did not know how to handle this.

"Mal? You in here? We brought you something to eat."

"In here Ben." Mal noticed the hope in Carlos's eyes at the mention of his name.

She watched Carlos as Ben and his parents walked into the bathroom. He was skeptical, but recognition soon flooded his eyes. He visibly relaxed.

"Adam."

That quiet relief that was in his voice stung a little. He didn't feel safe with her. She quickly shook it off this was not about her.

"Hey, buddy. Why are you on the floor?"

Mal watched curiously as the infamous King Beast knelt on the bathroom floor next to Carlos.

"You went away." Was the quiet reply she heard.

"No. I didn't go away. I just stepped out for a minute."

Mal watched as Carlos absorbed the new information he was given.

"Hey, can you answer something for me?"

Carlos looked up and nodded he seemed eager to please the former King. It was something that would have been done out of fear on the island. Had she still been there she would have been confused, because there was not an ounce of fear in Carlos's face now that Adam had shown up. It was something that she had seen a lot with the kids here in Auradon. They wanted to make their parents happy because for some reason it made them happy to do so.

It was something she was beginning to understand herself. She liked that warm feeling she got whenever she did something that would get a goofy grin out of Ben.

"Can you tell me what happened to your arm?"

Carlos looked pensive as he thought. She knew he was worried about giving an answer that Adam might not want to hear.

"I… we were building a puzzle…. and it hurt."

Carlos was clearly confused he seemed to be struggling with something.

"Anything else that you can remember, buddy?"

Carlos shook his head for a moment and then he closed his eyes.

"I hurt here." Mal saw him gesture to he had punctured his lung two days earlier.

"And then I was alone…. I thought you sent me back to mommy"

Tears started to fall down his face, and everyone in the room took in a sharp breath as he confirmed what she had assumed. He thought he was three again.

What had she done wrong? Evie said that he had talked to her last night, and he was normal. Well as normal as anyone from the island could hope to be.

* * *

 ** _AN: And end….. just kidding. I have already started the second part to this arc. So what do you guys think is wrong_**

 ** _Residual effects from the potion?_**

 ** _A new curse perhaps?_**

 ** _Some type of PTSD from being forced to relive one of the worst experiences from his childhood?_**

 ** _Or maybe the author just wanted to do a mental age regression?_**

 ** _Leave your thoughts in the comments, and if you answer correctly, and if you are a member and I can message you lol, you can pick the next story arc I work on. I make no promises on when said story arc will be out, as life is currently kicking my butt and leaving me very little time to write._**

 ** _Hopefully I can finish the next chapter soon._**

 ** _Until next time_**

 ** _~Light's Lady_**


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